Wild Australian species to be vaccinated to reduce impact of deadly H5N1 bird flu strain

Canberra, Oct 20 (IANS/GURPUNEET SIDHU) Wild populations of Australian endangered animals will be vaccinated against a deadly strain of bird flu in an attempt to limit its impact.

Tanya Plibersek, minister for the environment, said on Sunday that environment officers will soon start vaccinating endangered animals against the H5N1 strain of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI), breeding captive insurance populations of threatened species and picking up carcasses to prevent the spread of the disease.

Australia is the only continent that has not recorded a case of the H5N1 strain, but experts have warned its arrival in the country is inevitable, Xinhua news agency reported.

The current global outbreak of the strain has caused mass deaths of wild birds and some mammal species.

The federal government earlier in October committed $63.7 million in new funding for biosecurity, environmental and public health measures to protect Australia from the strain.

“We are extremely worried about this variant of bird flu,” Plibersek told Nine Entertainment newspapers.

“We know it’s in Antarctica now. We know it’s in Indonesia. We’re the last continent that this variant hasn’t hit. We’re doing our very best to prepare for it, but the simple truth is we can’t keep it out of the country. It’s likely to have potentially catastrophic impacts on our wild animals.”

She said that authorities are unsure whether Australia’s iconic marsupial species, including koalas and kangaroos, will be more or less susceptible to transmission of H5N1.

It has not been determined which wild species will be vaccinated but those most likely to suffer damage from an outbreak will likely be targeted.

Plibersek on Friday chaired a meeting with the environment ministers of Australia’s states and territories as well as New Zealand to help prepare and protect against bird flu.