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Bird Flu: Highly Deadly H-5 Bird Flu Reaches Australia; Concerns Over Threats to Australian Fauna

Australia’s status as the last continent free from the highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza (bird flu) has officially ended. On June 20, 2026, authorities confirmed the detection of the H5 strain in a migratory brown skua found in a remote area of Western Australia’s southern coast. While the current detection is limited to isolated migratory seabirds—with no evidence of spread to poultry or mass mortality events in other species—the arrival of the virus marks a critical shift in the nation's biosecurity landscape.

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