HPAI

• In 2021, avian influenza evolved into a new form – a new and remarkably lethal variant first found in Europe.
• Bird flu is usually most dangerous to birds kept in close quarters, such as chicken farms.
• But as it spread around the world, the highly pathogenic HPAI A(H5N1) variant began killing millions and millions of wild birds too.
• Black swans, for instance, are especially vulnerable to all types of avian flu.

Could it really get here?

• Instead, the government is likely to focus on the major wetlands and shallow inlets which attract migratory birds.
• Responses like the mass destruction of beehives after the devastating varroa mite arrived are unlikely to work for a virus.
• A tailored vaccine could help domestic birds, but it would be all but impossible to administer to wild birds.
• Read more:
  Australia's iconic black swans have a worrying immune system deficiency, new genome study finds

Haven’t our birds survived bird flu before?

• In 2020, three egg producers in Victoria had an outbreak of another highly pathogenic influenza variant, H7N7.
• To stop it spreading, authorities culled all birds in the farms.
• This variant emerged when low pathogenic viruses carried by local wild birds evolved into a deadlier form.
• But if the virus gets into wild birds and takes off, we have no plan.

We must prepare

• As we back nature into a corner, we can find ourselves more exposed to the viruses wild animals carry.
• That’s a similar death rate to many of the birds dying of the avian flu elsewhere in the world.
• The main protection we have at present is the fact avian flu finds it hard to infect us in the first place.