Western Australian poultry farms locked down after H5N1 bird flu discovered in wild birds

A Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development veterinarian tests a northern giant petrel for H5N1 bird flu. The bird was brought into care on 18 June from Wylie Bay beach in Western Australia. Photograph: Lori-Ann Shibish/Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary. View image in fullscreen A Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development veterinarian tests a northern giant petrel for H5N1 bird flu. The bird was brought into care on 18 June from Wylie Bay beach in Western Australia. Photograph: Lori-Ann Shibish/Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary. Western Australian poultry farms locked down after H5N1 bird flu discovered in wild birds Poultry producer Inghams announces move after brown skua confirmed to have virus and petrel being tested, in first cases seen on Australia’s mainland Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Poultry farms in Western Australia have gone into lockdown after confirmation the deadly H5N1 bird flu has arrived on the country’s mainland. On Monday, the Inghams Group – Australia’s largest poultry producer – announced a “complete lockdown” in WA, despite no commercial detections of H5N1. It came after a brown skua, found on a remote beach near Esperance, was discovered to have the “highly pathenogenic” H5N1 virus on the weekend. A giant petrel in the same area was also tested and returned a preliminary positive result, while there have been reports of more than a dozen cases of sick or dead birds along the WA coast. Location of Esperance Before the confirmation of H5N1’s arrival, Australia had been the only continent free of the virus, which has killed millions of birds and thousands of marine mammals since 2021. ‘A genuine wildlife emergency’: everything you need to know about the arrival of H5 bird flu in Australia Read more Inghams said in a statement it would ask the state government to allow free-range chickens to be kept indoors, while all nonessential access to its operations would be stopped. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Australia’s chief veterinary officer, Beth Cookson, told ABC’s Radio National the virus had not been detected in wildlife, poultry or agricultural systems. But Cookson said authorities were trying to work out whether the infected birds had spread the disease into other populations. “Our approach is to really learn from the overseas experience and look at the practical actions that can be put in place to mitigate the impacts as far as possible,” she said on Monday. Shares in Inghams dropped as much as 14% on Monday, according to Bloomberg. The share price has been sliding for four months and was down more than 23% in the year to date, according to the news agency. The Australian Financial Review reported on 1 June that the $777m company was “deep in turnaround mode”, after a contract with Woolworths was restructured. The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, said Cookson and t