Australia confirms first H5N1 bird flu case in a mammal

NewsWorldAustralasiaAustralia confirms first H5N1 bird flu case in a mammalAustralia ⁠is grappling with rising cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenzaAlisha Rahaman Sarkar Sunday 23 August 2026 11:29 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b3037710","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-bird-flu-mammal-seal-b3037710.html","title":"Australia confirms first H5N1 bird flu case in a mammal"}}CloseRelated: Thousands of chickens killed and disposed off due to bird flu outbreakOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"pianoFieldName":"receiveOnTheGround","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Australasia","regSourceNewsletter":"NSC"}}Australia has confirmed its first case of H5N1 bird flu in a mammal after testing of a long-nosed fur seal found in South Au...