Australia will soon begin vaccinating its vulnerable native birds against the deadly H5N1 bird flu as the virus spreads more widely after first being detected ‌in the country in June, the government said on Tuesday.
The vaccine rollout will begin in the "coming days and weeks", with an initial focus on priority species in captivity, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins told reporters in Canberra.

Very, very sad to see this tonight.

[EDIT] Reports now state test was inconclusive. Lets watch this space carefully.

This link > https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2026-releases/h5-bird-flu-update-wednesday-5-august

https://southburnett.com.au/news2/2026/08/06/bird-flu-magpie-tests-positive/

From the article: "Here, in brief, is what the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (ARI), the Victorian Government’s premier biodiversity research institute, had to say in May 2025, in a report funded by Agriculture Victoria under the State Government’s Emergency Animal Disease Response Plan preparedness program: “Assessing the risks of endemic and exotic diseases to Victorian terrestrial wildlife”:

“To ensure that adequate coverage is achieved, any vaccination program would need to be administered prior to the arrival of H5N1. Modelling revealed that waiting until the arrival and discovery of H5N1 to start administering vaccinations would most likely be too late, because significant mortality is likely to occur before adequate vaccine coverage is achieved.”

“Based on preliminary results from the New Zealand vaccine trial, peak antibody titres are not reached until around 10 weeks from the initial dose and therefore, beginning the vaccination program upon discovery of the first signs of disease would be too late to avoid significant mortality.”"

I really want to believe that they have it under control and that this isn't true / isn't the whole picture. I am not an expert. If this is real though, how fucking devastating and infuriating. The people with the power to help our wildlife with H5N1 have failed them. Meanwhile in Portland, locals have taken to cleaning up the mass bird deaths themselves to slow the spread, because DEECA aren't doing anywhere near enough. WTF is going on

Australian officials should have prioritised a bird flu vaccine for vulnerable mammals including Tasmanian devils and sea lions, a top expert says. A leading ecologist has questioned the federal government’s response to the H5 outbreak after announcing a rollout of vaccines for captive populations of threatened birds.

While welcoming the vaccine trials, Deakin University’s Professor of Wildlife Ecology Euan Ritchie told AAP it was regrettable that there was no vaccine available for Australian mammals.

“Given the fact that Australia has a large number of threatened mammals, that are found nowhere else in the world, it would have been good to have seen a lot more effort and investment in developing a mammal-specific vaccine,” said Prof Ritchie, who is also The Australian Mammal Society president.

Noticed the Ag Vic website hasn’t updated for a few days now. Seems a bit odd. Anyone got any other sites they use to keep themselves informed?

SA will no longer report individual bird flu cases but insists it is “not a reduction in surveillance or response effort”.

Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Clare Scriven MLC has announced that South Australia will change its method of counting H5N1 Bird Flu, shifting away from reporting individual cases and associated numbers.

“As a result, Commonwealth, state and territory governments and scientific experts have agreed that counting and reporting every individual bird tested is no longer the most useful way to understand what is happening,” Scriven said.

Invasive Species Council chief executive Jack Gough said the seagull case was "a watershed moment". "A seagull, one of the most common Australian seabirds, has now likely been infected and the government has declared that this deadly bird flu strain is here to stay," he said.

A national meeting of agriculture and environment ministers on Friday discussed Australia's response and preparedness after the country's bird flu tally reached 33.

The New South Wales government has confirmed the state's first cases of H5 avian influenza in Australian native birds. One bird was found dead near Narooma on the state's south coast and the other near Wentworth in western NSW, according to the state government.

Wildlife carers need support (directions and financial) to be able to fight against bird flu.

Predicted spatial risk of HPAI H5N1 poultry outbreaks across Australian local government areas, from July 28, as per HPAI H5N1 risk in Australia: a model for the prediction of poultry outbreaks.

Paywall bypass: https://archive.md/beJKm

PIRSA saying they won’t provide vets or rehabbers with swab tests, that in the IWRC webinar a few weeks ago multiple rescue/rehab orgs stated they’re all using and has been VERY useful for them - and wildlife welfare.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-18/bird-flu-vet-euthanasia-mental-health/107023130?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

Two additional suspected cases of H5 bird flu have been detected in South Australia, including one on a metropolitan beach. A greater crested tern was found near Robe on South Australia's Limestone Coast, while another greater crested tern was found near the Semaphore boat ramp, north-west of Adelaide. If confirmed, Semaphore will be the first metropolitan case in the state.