Australia’s bird-flu response expands into urban wildlife as foxes carry H5 infections into city fringes

Confirmed H5 bird-flu infections in foxes and marine mammals across southern Australia are prompting a shift of the country’s response strategy into urban areas, raising concerns over wildlife and human health interfaces.

Confirmed H5 infections in foxes at Osborne, Normanville and Torquay are pushing Australia’s bird-flu response into the urban realm: officials do not think foxes are driving transmission, but they can move infected carcasses through city fringes. The federal dashboard showed 498 wildlife events by 7 September, including 281 in South Australia and 153 in Victoria.

DAFF says the Osborne animal, confirmed on 28 August, was Australia’s first land-mammal case and the third mammal species infected, with no evidence of mammal-to-mammal spread. South Australia’s 28 August update logged 46 new events, including a Goolwa dolphin; The Guardian reported the federal risk assessment classed common dolphins as high risk. Julie Collins had already described a long-nosed fur seal found at Beachport as Australia’s first mammal case, and South Australian officials had also logged another infected seal at the Pages Islands.

The warning signs came earlier. In July, BirdLife Australia’s Kate Millar told The Guardian that seven suspected tern cases near Beachport and Port MacDonnell were “the smoke” showing the virus was “now taking hold”. PIRSA later switched to local laboratory confirmation, taking South Australia’s tally to 254 events on 29 August. For agriculture and council leaders, the implication is operational: ABC reports urban fox densities can reach 16 to 23 a sq km in parts of Melbourne, while Canberra wants states to match an A$125 million response fund and A$20 million for wildlife action.

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