South Australian authorities are investigating three mass bird mortality events involving more than 1,000 birds, with the dead birds presumed to have died from the H5N1 bird flu strain. The deaths were detected yesterday on remote offshore islands, including Troubridge Island off Yorke Peninsula and two small islands off Kangaroo Island known as North Page and South Page. As of today, South Australia has recorded 177 confirmed cases of H5 bird flu.
Premier Peter Malinauskas told SA parliament the discoveries by the state government's surveillance teams represented a significant escalation of bird flu in the state. He said, "The loss of more than 1,000 birds is deeply concerning, and the state government is treating these events with the utmost seriousness." The language is polished. The deaths are not. Birds are dropping on islands far from the chamber floor, and the machinery of the state is now moving to count, test and contain what it failed to stop.
Who Gets Hit First
The bulk of the bird deaths had occurred off Kangaroo Island, Mr Malinauskas said, while the Troubridge Island event was "a bit smaller in nature." One little penguin has a suspected but not yet confirmed case of H5 bird flu, and testing will now ensue through the CSIRO facility in Geelong in Victoria. That bird sits at the center of a system that decides what gets tested, where samples go, and which species are treated as worth saving first.
The SA government is considering a potential vaccination program "under certain circumstances for certain species", including penguins. Mr Malinauskas said, "We will not be vaccinating animals until the appropriate authorities have deemed it is safe to do so, and the risk of bird flu is there." He also said, "The vaccine that we're talking about: it requires the vaccine to be administered twice, which of course with native birds that are flying all over the state … is almost impossible." The state’s own explanation lands on the limits of its own control. Native birds don’t sit still for bureaucratic plans.
Cleland Wildlife Park and Adelaide Zoo have been identified as possible candidates for a vaccine rollout. Department for Primary Industries and Regions biosecurity executive director Georgie Cornish said, "Our first port of call is to work with captive animals because that obviously gives us the best chance of success." That’s the hierarchy in plain sight: captive animals first, because they’re easier to manage. Wild birds, the ones actually living outside the fence, come after the apparatus has decided what’s feasible.
What the Authorities Are Calling Response
Ms Cornish said it was unknown why greater crested terns had borne the brunt of bird flu so far, but further mass mortalities were expected. Seven more confirmed bird flu detections have been recorded in SA since the last update, in greater crested terns, a silver gull and an Australian raven in locations including the Barossa and Eyre Peninsula. South Australia is carrying out surveillance on the ground as well as through aerial patrols conducted by planes, helicopters and drones. The state watches from above while the deaths keep coming below.
The premier said no mass mortality had been reported in mammals, and that H5N1 had not been detected in poultry or livestock. The first mass mortality of Australian wildlife from bird flu also occurred in SA, and was revealed by the federal government earlier this month. In that event, aerial surveillance detected dead greater crested terns on an island called Baudin Rocks, about 5 kilometres south of Cape Jaffa on the state's south-east coast.
In a statement, the Invasive Species Council described the latest mass deaths in SA as "shocking." Chief executive Jack Gough said, "Today we had the dreaded news that deaths are ramping up and the devastation from bird flu is becoming very real." He added, "This is a sad day for Australian wildlife, but it is only the start of the scale of deaths we can expect in the months ahead as the virus spreads." The warning is blunt. The spread is already here, and the official response still sounds like damage control after the fact.
Tasmania’s Dead Birds, Same Old Scramble
In a separate mortality event, more than two dozen penguins have been found dead in Tasmania, a week on from the arrival of the deadly H5 bird flu in the state. A surveillance team found 28 dead penguins and three dead crested terns on the coast of King Island. The birds are being tested for the deadly H5 bird flu, which has already killed seven birds on the Bass Strait island.
The virus was found for the first time in Tasmania last Thursday in a brown skua at Rocky Cape on the north-west coast. Since then, the region's death toll has continued to climb, and extended to crested terns and silver gulls. Seven of the 11 deaths have been on King Island. Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania incident controller Wes Ford said, "Unfortunately, our surveillance team found 28 dead penguins and three dead crested terns at the Port of Grassy on King Island yesterday." He said, "Tasmanians care deeply about our wildlife, and particularly our penguins, so we understand that reports like these may be distressing for the community." He added, "Samples have been collected and sent for laboratory testing with results expected during the week."
NRE staff will collect the dead birds today to avoid further transmission. Mr Ford said the department was increasing surveillance and monitoring activities in the area, and remained committed to supporting the King Island community and its industries. He said, "We expect to continue receiving reports of sick and dead birds on King Island, along the north west coast and in other parts of Tasmania." He added, "That is why ongoing surveillance, monitoring and testing remain critical." The language of support sits beside the reality of dead birds on the shore. The state promises monitoring. The virus keeps moving.
Australian Seabird Group research scientist Eric Woehler said it would be a "worrying trend" if bird flu is determined as the penguins' cause of death, and would mark a "major escalation." Victoria is vaccinating little penguins on Phillip Island, after a bird from the island's colony was found to have died from H5N1 bird flu. Based on his analysis of mortality rates of other penguin species on sub-Antarctic islands, Dr Woehler believes little penguins are not highly vulnerable. He said, "They're not like silver gulls or crested terns that nest on the ground, beak to beak and are forever fighting." He added, "The birds come ashore, and then they basically self-isolate in burrows in the ground, so there's less opportunity for transmission of the bird flu in a species such as little penguins compared to the gulls and terns."
Dr Woehler said given the abundance and diversity of seabird species, further spread of bird flu on King Island would be concerning. He said, "It's opening the door for the virus to spread to those other species on King Island and elsewhere in Bass Strait, so the Bass Strait area will likely be one of the potential focal areas for bird flu if it does get a hold in Australia." While the Tasmanian government does not consider penguins a priority species for vaccination against the virus, director of threatened species and biodiversity Rachael Alderman said authorities were preparing for further spread. She said, "Our worst-case scenario is that we will see significant mortalities, and it will impact species." She added, "It could be little penguins, it could be a range of different species, we just don't know."