10 July 2026

Testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP)has determined that there has been one additional detection of H5 high pathogenicity avian influenza (bird flu) in a petrel, found at Horrocks Beach near Northampton, Western Australia.

While in this case the sequencing of the virus could not be determined, the Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is treating this case as a positive as a precautionary measure.

There have now been 13 confirmed or presumed positive detections of H5 bird flu in Australia. All of these have been individual wild seabirds found in coastal locations. All but one have been wild migratory seabirds.

There remains no evidence of any mass mortality events, and there are no detections in poultry or in our agricultural production system.

The risk to human health remains low.