NSW records first suspected case of deadly H5 bird flu as virus reaches Australia’s east coast

New South Wales has its first suspected case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a giant petrel that was found near Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle, on the state’s coast. If CSIRO testing confirms it is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, it would mark the first detection of the deadly disease on the Australian east coast. Five cases have already been confirmed since late June – four in Western Australia and one in South Australia – all in migratory sub-antarctic birds. The NSW agriculture minister, Tara