New Zealand is on heightened alert after Australian authorities confirmed the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in a migratory seabird in Western Australia, the closest the virus has come to our shores since it began sweeping the globe.
The H5N1 2.3.4.4b strain was found in a brown skua discovered on a remote beach about 700 kilometres south-east of Perth, with a second bird, a giant petrel found in the same area, also returning a suspected positive result. It is the same strain that has killed millions of poultry and wild birds around the world since late 2021, and its arrival in Australia means New Zealand is now one of the last significant landmasses it has not reached.
Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard said the country has had time to get ready and is in a strong position to respond. Speaking to RNZ, he said New Zealand’s distance from the rest of the world had been our best defence so far.
“Since the H5N1 strain of bird flu started spreading around the world, New Zealand’s geographical isolation has protected us and given us time to prepare,” Hoggard said. “We are watching the situation closely and remain in close contact with Australian authorities.”
He was frank about what is likely to happen if the virus does make the crossing, most probably carried by a wild bird rather than through trade or travellers. “While we can’t prevent wild birds bringing this virus here, we can work together to limit its impact,” he said. “If H5N1 bird flu arrives, it is likely to spread in our wild bird population and will not be able to be eradicated.”
Hoggard said the main concern was not human health but the threat to wildlife and farming. “The main threat is going to be to our native species, and to our poultry flocks,” he said. He noted that the strain had circulated worldwide with only a very small number of human cases, and that there is no food safety risk from H5N1.
It is the risk to native birds that has conservationists most worried. New Zealand is home to seabirds, shorebirds and endemic waterfowl found nowhere else, and many breed in dense colonies where a virus can move quickly through a population.
University of Otago evolutionary virologist Dr Jemma Geoghegan said the experience overseas was a warning of what could be at stake. “We’ve seen internationally that H5N1 has caused major mortality events in wild birds and marine mammals, and many of our native sea birds and other threatened species could be vulnerable when the virus comes here,” she told RNZ.
The danger extends beyond birds. Marine mammals such as the New Zealand sea lion, one of the rarest sea lions in the world, share the same beaches as seabirds along the southern coast and in the sub-Antarctic islands. An outbreak in those breeding colonies could undo years of slow conservation gains for a species that has only recently started to recolonise the mainland around Otago and Rakiura.
Geoghegan was careful to stress that this is not primarily a human illness, but that people should keep their distance from sick or dead wildlife. “While this is not a human disease, humans have been able to be infected by the virus through direct contact with infected animals, so, it’s best not to approach them and call the MPI hotline,” she said.
Behind the scenes, agencies have been preparing for years. The Ministry for Primary Industries, the Department of Conservation, the Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand have been working together with industry groups and local councils on a national response. One of the more striking pieces of that work has been a vaccine trial aimed squarely at protecting the rarest birds.
The Department of Conservation has run a safety and efficacy trial using Poulvac Flufend H5N3, a vaccine that can protect against H5N1, on small numbers of five native species, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries. The birds chosen were among the most precious in the country, the black stilt, the takahē, the kākāpō, the shore plover and the red-crowned parakeet. The trial found the vaccine was safe and effective, which gives conservation managers an option for shielding the small captive populations that act as an insurance policy for whole species.
That kind of contingency matters because birds like the kākāpō and the takahē number only in the hundreds, and a single mortality event could wipe out a meaningful share of the survivors. Vaccinating an entire wild population is not realistic, but protecting the founder birds held in managed sites is.
For most people the practical advice is simple. Farmers and backyard chicken keepers are being urged to tighten their everyday biosecurity, watch for signs of illness in their flocks, keep domestic birds away from wild ones, and clean boots, gear, surfaces and hands often. Hoggard summed it up plainly. “Look for signs of illness in your birds and contact your vet if concerned, prevent contact between your birds and wild birds, and clean your boots, gear, surfaces and hands often,” he said.
Anyone who finds three or more sick or dead wild birds in a group is asked to report it to the exotic pest and disease hotline on 0800 80 99 66 rather than handling the birds themselves.
Not everyone is convinced the country has done enough. University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker has argued that New Zealand should lift its wider pandemic preparedness, and has criticised the decision to reject the latest revisions to the World Health Organisation’s health regulations. “We need to reverse that rejection as soon as possible,” he said. At the same time he offered some reassurance on the human risk. “It’s not showing any significant ability to transmit between people, and that is really the most important single feature required for any pandemic threat,” he said of the virus.
For now the virus remains on the Australian side of the Tasman, carried by birds that range across thousands of kilometres of ocean. Whether and when it reaches New Zealand is not something anyone can control. What the country can do, officials say, is be ready for the day it arrives.
Have you spotted unusual numbers of sick or dead birds where you live, or do you keep backyard chickens you are now watching more closely? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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