New Zealand detects H5 bird flu

WELLINGTON: New Zealand has detected the first case of H5 bird flu, after a migratory seabird was found on a beach in Wellington, officials said Wednesday.

H5 bird flu has caused severe disease and high death rates in poultry and wild birds worldwide.

“New Zealanders are being asked to be alert after a single ocean-going seabird, a brown skua, returned a confirmed positive test for H5 bird flu today after it was found on Petone beach in Wellington,” said Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.

There was no evidence of transmission between wild birds, or mass mortality in wildlife, he added.

Neighbouring Australia, for years the only continental landmass to be free of the H5 strain, detected its first case in June. Australian authorities have since reported 14 cases.

New Zealand authorities have sought to protect the country’s five most endangered birds — the kakapo, takahe, shore plover, black stilt and orange-fronted parakeet — by vaccinating breeding bird populations.

Prior to the arrivals of humans, New Zealand had no mammals, and many of its unique bird species, such as the kiwi, do not have the ability to fly.

People were asked to report groups of three or more sick birds to authorities.