First suspected case of deadly flu is detected in Australia

Published: 07:58, 19 June 2026 | Updated: 08:05, 19 June 2026 A single suspected case of bird flu has triggered fears a deadly strain that has killed millions of animals worldwide has reached Australia. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins confirmed a single migratory wild bird had been detected with a suspected case of the disease in Western Australia. But it was too early to confirm it was the concerning H5N1 strain that has killed millions of birds around the world, the minister said, with results from further testing expected on Saturday. Mainland Australia is the only continent yet to detect the killer strain. 'There is no evidence of any mass mortality at this time, nor is there any evidence of infection in poultry,' Ms Collins said. 'If it is confirmed to be the H5 bird flu, this will be sobering, but not unexpected, given the spread globally.' The deadly strain of bird flu was detected for the first time on Australian soil in October on the World Heritage-listed Heard Island, which sits some 4,000km southwest of Perth. Scientists who visited Heard Island estimated 13,359 southern elephant seal pups had died from the disease out of a total population of 17,364 - more than three-quarters of the total. A single suspected case of bird flu has triggered fears a deadly strain that has killed millions of animals worldwide has reached Australia Agriculture Minister Julie Collins confirmed a single migratory wild bird had been detected with a suspected case of the disease in Western Australia  Ms Collins insisted the strain's arrival was inevitable and said the government had been preparing for it as a result. She downplayed fears it could devastate Australia's farmers, who are still reeling from the fuel crisis caused by conflict in the Middle East. 'This is a single bird, a suspected case and we are as prepared as any country can be,' Ms Collins said. 'We have invested early, as we said we would, and those investments are now showing provision ... if this is detected as a case, we will have gotten there early.' Risk to human health would be exceptionally small, she added. States and territory representatives and industry experts are meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss planning. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.