Premier raises alarm as more than a thousand SA birds die
More than a thousand dead birds have been discovered in SA with a little penguin also on the watch list, the Premier has told parliament.
More than 1000 crested terns discovered on remote South Australian islands have presumably died from H5N1 bird flu, Premier Peter Malinauskas told state parliament on Thursday afternoon.
In a ministerial statement, Malinauskas said the government was also investigating a suspected case involving a little penguin from Kangaroo Island which was “of particular concern”.
The three mortality events occurred on remote offshore islands, including North Page and South Page islands off Kangaroo Island and Troubridge Island off the Yorke Peninsula.
Malinauskas said no mass mortality event involving mammals has been detected, and no H5 bird flu has been detected in poultry or livestock.
“The detections were made through the state government’s comprehensive surveillance plan for H5 bird flu, which includes aerial patrols using helicopters, planes and drones, supported by field surveillance crews,” Malinauskas told the House of Representatives.
“This extensive surveillance is not limited to coastal seabirds. It also covers marine mammals that may be affected by H5 bird flu, including long-nosed fur seals and Australian sea lions.”
As of Thursday, South Australia has recorded 177 confirmed H5 bird flu events.
The government is considering targeted vaccinations of the “most threatened native birds where it is safe, feasible and likely to provide a conservation benefit”, Malinauskas said, but “broadscale vaccination of wild birds is neither practical nor appropriate”.
Malinauskas encouraged South Australians to “remain vigilant and to report sick or dead birds and other wildlife”.
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“The risk to human health from H5 bird flu remains low,” he said.
Malinauskas is expected to address the media with Primary Industries minister Clare Scriven and PIRSA biosecurity executive director Georgie Cornish later this afternoon.
More to come.
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