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

Government officials warn WA to “prepare for the worst” after the dreaded H5 bird flu strain was detected on Australian soil for the first time.

The pathogen was detected in Esperance on Friday, thrusting WA into the front line of a national environmental defense strategy as authorities scramble to map the extent of the spread.

Premier Roger Cook declared the state needs to be “extremely worried” about the potential fallout.

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

“The Commonwealth has already done a huge amount of work with the states in terms of preparation for this eventuality, but now it’s here I think we need to make sure that we hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

Mr Cook warned the fallout could ripple far beyond avian populations, threatening the state’s broader ecosystem and commercial food security.

“Obviously we know the impacts that it has in relation to native birds, but there’s also other animals in the food chain, which get impacted by this as well,” he said.

“I’m told that there could be a potential significant impact on marine life. How it impacts on native animals is obviously something of great concern, but there’s also a significant danger if this gets into our poultry industry.

“We need to really respond very vigorously to this early detection, and we’re lucky that we’ve got that early detection, but now we need to move to further understanding about what the impact, in terms of … the evolving of the pathogen, but also in terms of how we can protect our economy.

“This is a big issue. This is a big deal, and we’re going to work closely with the Commonwealth to make sure that we can respond to it.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins confirmed decision-makers are assessing whether containment is even possible.

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

“We have had (to) meet twice now the emergency response group that will make decisions about whether or not we can eradicate or manage the H5 bird flu in Australia. That investigation and where we are is still in progress.

“We are working to determine whether the H5 bird flu has established in the wildlife or Australia, other than these two isolated birds.”

However, the nation’s top veterinary official painted a bleak picture if the virus breaches the current containment zone.

“What we know from other situations is that if that’s 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’s not many practical, feasible actions that can be undertaken to control it once it’s in other populations.”

State Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis moved swiftly to calm fears regarding WA’s iconic wildlife, explicitly downplaying immediate threats to the state’s famous black swans.

“There is absolutely no evidence it has spread to wild populations of black swans,” Ms Jarvis said.

“It’s really important to remember we have seen isolated incidents of individual birds who are migratory birds who have essentially been blown off course because of the weather that were sick, and so we may have more of these incidents, but at this stage there is absolutely no evidence that this has spread to wildlife.

Ms Jarvis could not confirm how long WA needs to stay alert for.

“I don’t want to speculate on what might be next, we don’t know if this surveillance phase will carry on for two weeks or two years.”

In the meantime, local commercial bio-security measures are being tightened, with the State Government preparing regulatory lifelines for free-range egg and poultry producers who may soon be forced to lock down their birds.

“We are telling all culture producers to make sure that food and water can’t be accessed by wild birds with regard to commercial farms,” Ms Jarvis said.

“What will happen is... chief veterinary officers makes a determination that we now have an outbreak, and at this stage we are not there, we can issue what’s called a voluntary housing order that will allow free-range producers to bring their animals inside to be housed.”

Addressing the prospect of a vaccine, Ms Jarvis crushed any hopes of a widespread wildlife vaccination program, describing the logistical reality as “simply not possible.”

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

“My preliminary understanding... is that any vaccine usually takes two doses which is why it can’t be used on a broad scale.

“And so, whilst the vaccine is in process, that could be used for certain colonies of protected species. I want to be really clear, we will not be using vaccines on a large scale for wildlife. It’s just simply not possible.”

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

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