Posted Sat 25 Jul 2026 at 1:39pm
Sat 25 Jul 2026 at 1:39pm
, updated Sat 25 Jul 2026 at 3:45pmSat 25 Jul 2026 at 3:45pm
The bird was found washed up on Moreton Island earlier this month. (ABC News: Ashleigh Stevenson)
In short:
The first confirmed case of H5 bird flu in Queensland has been confirmed.
The dead petrel was found at Moreton Island on July 18 and sent to the CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness for testing.
What's next?
The Queensland Department of Primary Services said the state was well prepared to respond.
Queensland has confirmed its first case of H5 bird flu after a dead petrel was found on Moreton Island, east of Brisbane.
The bird was found by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service staff on Saturday, July 18 and sent for testing.
On Friday, authorities announced the suspected case.
The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) this afternoon confirmed tests conducted by the CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness had come back positive.
They said there remained no detections in poultry, or evidence of large-scale deaths in any animals in Queensland.
The risk to human health remains low, the department said.
Queensland chief veterinary officer Allison Cook said said it was a matter of "when, not if", the virus was detected in the state. (ABC News)
DPI chief veterinary officer Allison Crook said the confirmation was expected.
"We have known that a H5 bird flu detection in Queensland was a matter of when, not if," Dr Crook said.
Dr Crook said authorities had escalated their surveillance program throughout Queensland.
More than 1,000 reports have been made to the Queensland hotline since the first reported Australian case in June.
"I encourage the community and industry to continue to be vigilant," Dr Crook said.
H5 bird flu has now been confirmed in wild birds found in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and NSW.
There have been 18 detections in total but no cases found in domestic poultry or the wider agricultural industry.
Agriculture expert Ben Lyons from the University of Southern Queensland said he was concerned about the potential impact the infectious disease could have on the state's south-east corner.
"That would be where our largest intensive agriculture, eggs, poultry and piggeries, are also located," he said.
Professor Lyons said Queensland's large feral animal population could also be of concern.
"There's more wild pigs in Australia than humans and particularly with the run of good seasons we've had, we could see this very contagious and highly dangerous disease move into those populations."
