Tourism Tasmania has reiterated there is no outbreak of H5 bird flu in the state, no detection in commercial poultry and no change to visitor operations, after aerial crews inspected about 760 kilometres of Tasmania’s north-west coastline over the weekend as part of the state’s ongoing surveillance response.
The aerial survey, covering the Furneaux Group, King Island and the West Coast, was aimed at identifying further cases in wild seabird populations and establishing a baseline for long-term conservation monitoring, with about seven hours of footage still being reviewed. Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE Tas) said no mass mortalities or obvious signs of infection were spotted by survey crews over the weekend.
Tasmania recorded its first H5 case on 13 August, when a brown skua was found dead at Rocky Cape on the state’s north-west coast. Confirmed cases have since climbed to 10, with the latest four detected overnight in crested terns and silver gulls found around Currie on King Island. NRE Tas incident controller Wes Ford said the detections were not unexpected: “These latest cases are not unexpected and demonstrate that timely public reporting is critical,” he said, adding that community vigilance continued to complement the department’s own monitoring effort.
Despite the rising case count, authorities have stressed the situation remains confined to wild birds. Primary Industries and Water Minister Gavin Pearce said when the first case was confirmed that “there is no evidence of an outbreak,” and there have been no detections in Tasmania’s commercial poultry sector to date. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said this week that whether the situation formally constitutes an “outbreak” was still being worked through at a federal level.
Tourism Tasmania has acknowledged the news is distressing for many in the industry, particularly those working closely with the state’s wildlife, but said there had been no change to visitor operations as a result of the detections. The organisation is continuing to provide industry with regular updates, and is directing operators and the public to report any sick or dead birds or other wildlife to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline rather than approaching the animals directly.
