Experts say it’s only a matter of time until H5N1 reaches Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

While Australia is recovering from a devastating outbreak of Avian Influenza, we're told the worst is yet to come. Experts say it's only a matter of time until a strain already wreaking havoc overseas lands on our shores.

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00:001.3 million chickens are buried in this field in Meredith.

00:07It's just stopped everything and been absolutely devastating for us.

00:09Australia is now recovering from its worst ever avian influenza outbreak, killing about

00:142 million birds, causing egg shortages, costing farmers tens of millions of dollars and dozens,

00:21if not hundreds, of jobs.

00:23We went from big revenue business, turnover, employing 40 or 50 staff to nothing.

00:28But many are worried something much worse is on the horizon.

00:32Avian influenza has dozens of strains.

00:35Those less likely to cause death and disease are low pathogenicity, while the deadliest

00:40are high.

00:41Australia's 2024 outbreaks were caused by high pathogenicity H7 strains.

00:46But the deadliest form of the virus is H5N1, which has rapidly spread across the globe

00:52since 2020, particularly via migrating wild birds.

00:56It has killed hundreds of millions of birds and spilled over into other species.

01:01Australia is the last large continental landmass that has not had an incursion of H5N1.

01:08The CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness is at the front line of readying

01:12the country for H5N1.

01:14Here, scientists are studying and tracking the deadly strain.

01:19This virus is a game changer, so everything that we thought about it, it's just changing.

01:25H5N1 could cause ecological disaster, threatening to wipe out local populations of some animals,

01:31such as black swans, seals, sea lions and penguins.

01:35It's a big deal, I mean, as we've seen from overseas, we've had millions and millions

01:39of birds killed.

01:40If it gets to Australia, it's most likely to come through migrating birds.

01:44What we need to do is we need to pick up any incursion if it happens really quickly, and

01:48then we need to respond quickly.

01:50With this outbreak now hopefully behind us, all eyes turn to the skies.

01:55In the hopes that this spring's migration doesn't bring H5N1 to our shores, but experts

02:01warn it's a matter of when, not if, this strain of avian influenza makes its way to Australia.

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