Australia H5 bird flu: Roger Cook says WA should be ‘extremely worried’ by two cases of H5 bird flu in State

Government officials have warned WA to “brace for the worst” after the dreaded H5 bird flu strain was first detected on Australian soil.

The pathogen was detected in Esperance on Friday, pushing WA to the forefront of the national environmental defense strategy as authorities scrambled to map the extent of the spread.

Premier Roger Cook said the province should be “extremely concerned” about the possible consequences.

“I think we need to be a little bit like the fuel crisis; we need to be over-prepared and make sure we’re ready to respond as this situation potentially evolves,” Mr Cook said.

“The Commonwealth has already done a tremendous amount of work with the states in terms of preparing for this possibility, but I think we now need to make sure that we hope for the best here but also prepare for the worst.”

Mr Cook warned that the fallout could extend far beyond bird populations, threatening the state’s wider ecosystem and commercial food security.

“Of course we know the effects of this on native birds, but there are other animals in the food chain that are affected by this,” he said.

“I have been told there could be a potentially significant impact on marine life. The impact on native animals is of course a matter of great concern, but its contagion into our poultry industry also poses a significant danger.

“We really need to respond very strongly to that early detection, and we’re fortunate to have that early detection, but now we need to move to greater understanding of what the impact is in terms of the development of the pathogen, but also in terms of how we can protect our economy.”

“This is a big problem. This is a big problem and we will work closely with the Commonwealth to make sure we can respond to it.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins confirmed policymakers were assessing whether containment was possible.

“We have now activated our national biosecurity response,” Ms Collins said on Monday.

“We’ve had to meet twice so far with the emergency response group who will be making decisions about whether we can eliminate or manage H5 bird flu in Australia. That investigation and where we are is still ongoing.”

“Apart from these two isolated birds, we are working to determine whether H5 avian influenza has emerged in wildlife or in Australia.”

But the country’s top veterinary official painted a bleak picture if the virus spreads beyond the current containment zone.

“What we know from other cases is that if this is the case and it has spread to other populations, then it can be quite difficult to contain,” Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Beth Cookson said.

“There are not many practical, feasible actions that can be taken to control it once it spreads to other populations.”

State Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis moved quickly to calm fears about WA’s iconic wildlife by publicly downplaying immediate threats to the state’s famous black swans.

“There is absolutely no evidence that this has spread to wild black swan populations,” Ms Jarvis said.

“It’s really important to remember that we’ve seen isolated cases of migratory birds being essentially blown off course by poor weather conditions, and so there may be more of these cases, but there’s absolutely no evidence at this stage that this has spread to wildlife.

Ms Jarvis could not confirm how long WA should remain vigilant.

“I don’t want to speculate on what might happen next; we don’t know whether this surveillance phase will last two weeks or two years.”

Meanwhile, local commercial biosecurity measures are being tightened; The State Government is preparing regulatory lifelines for free-range egg and poultry producers who may soon have to quarantine their birds.

“We tell all aquaculture producers to ensure that wild birds do not have access to food and water on commercial farms,” Ms Jarvis said.

“What’s going to happen is… the chief veterinary officers are now coming to the conclusion that there’s an outbreak and at this stage we’re not there; we can issue the voluntary sheltering order which will allow free-range producers to bring their animals inside to be housed.”

Addressing the possibility of a vaccine, Ms Jarvis dashed any hopes of a widespread vaccination program for wildlife, stating that the logistical reality was “absolutely not possible”.

“CSIRO is working on vaccines, I understand they haven’t been tested, they haven’t been tested on all Australian wildlife, so there’s still a testing process,” he said.

“My initial understanding is that any vaccine usually takes two doses and therefore cannot be used on a large scale.

“When the vaccine is being processed, it can be used for specific colonies of protected species. To be clear, we will not be using vaccines for wildlife on a large scale. This is simply not possible.”

Instead, the State Government has contingency plans to cordon off vulnerable ecological treasures into fortress-like sanctuaries in case the worst-case scenario occurs.

“There are certainly plans in place, whether it’s for black swans, little penguins or other birds of high value to Western Australians, and we may have colonies that we protect in a sanctuary area at some point in the future, but we’re certainly not there yet,” he said.