Scientists are also testing to confirm if another migratory bird found on a beach in Perth’s north has the virus, after returning an initial positive test.<\/a><\/p>\n Nahid Bhadelia says not conducting enough testing was a mistake in the US. (ABC News: Jake Sturmer)<\/p>\n In addition to the NSW case, five birds have been found with H5N1 on the southern coasts of WA and South Australia.<\/p>\n Nahid Bhadelia has been monitoring the spread of the disease across the world as it resulted in more than 633 million animals dying or being culled.<\/p>\n The director of Boston University’s Biothreats Emergence, Analysis and Communications Network urged Australia to learn from the mistakes of her country, the main one of which was not testing enough.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n “What we failed to do is really understand for a long period of time how it was transmitting on farms,” she said.<\/p>\n “And I think this is where Australia \u2026 with its biosecurity, with additional testing, could get ahead of and really understand how in your particular [environment] it’s going to play out.”Testing of local birds, marine mammals a priority<\/p>\n The immediate priority, Dr Bhadelia said, should be additional surveillance of resident birds and marine mammals, which would likely be infected before the virus spread to farm animals like chickens.<\/p>\n World Organisation for Animal Health head Emmanuelle Soubeyran said that was one of the key lessons to learn from the virus’s spread around the rest of the world.<\/p>\n The virus has spread throughout the world, including Brazil where this dead porpoise was found. (Reuters: Diego Vara)<\/p>\n “Surveillance is very important, rapid laboratory diagnostic and genomic sequencing to really understand where \u2026 does the virus come from,” she told the ABC from Paris.<\/p>\n With a background in veterinary public health, she commended Australia for quickly detecting the disease, but said the next step was to balance passive surveillance \u2014 testing sick or dead birds which are found by members of the public \u2014 with active surveillance.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n “But then you need to know where to do this active surveillance, which means that you need a risk-based surveillance in poultry, in backyards, in wild birds also,” Dr Soubeyran said.<\/p>\n “It is a combination of these, both passive and active surveillance, that is important.”<\/p>\n NSW and WA ramp up surveillance\u00a0<\/p>\n Lindall Kidd, the national migratory shorebird coordinator for BirdLife Australia, said there was a definite need for increased active surveillance, given WA in particular had largely relied on public reporting so far.<\/p>\n “We really need to focus on sort of actively walking the beaches, looking for potentially infected \u2026 seabirds,” she said.<\/p>\n “It’s really positive that some of the other jurisdictions have actually rapidly mobilised to do this active surveillance, because that can actually help prevent a possible outbreak of this virus.”<\/p>\n The brown skua is one of the migratory birds that has been found in Australia with bird flu. (iNaturalist: Oscar Thomas<\/a>, Brown skua<\/a>, CC BY-NC 4.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n On Friday, WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said the state’s fisheries officers had been monitoring key locations across remote islands on WA’s southern coast for ill or dead animals.<\/p>\n She said that would extend to Perth beaches following the latest suspected case, as well as wetlands where waterbirds were known to gather.<\/p>\n Jackie Jarvis says testing is being expanded to Perth beaches. (ABC News: Jake Sturmer)<\/p>\n Her New South Wales counterpart said that state had about 500 people, including government staff and private vets, working on surveillance.<\/p>\n “They’re checking this area of the state around Hawks Nest and the mid north coast, and other high-risk parts of the state, looking for birds,” Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.<\/p>\n The giant petrel is another type of bird detected in Australia with H5N1. (Supplied: Lori-Ann Shibish\/Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary)<\/p>\n “That includes fisheries officers over the water, that includes people in national parks, that includes people in agriculture, looking for birds that might look ill so that we can see if there are any more.<\/p>\n “That surveillance has been increased now and will continue over the weekend.”<\/p>\n Investing in an ‘army’<\/p>\n Both international experts said the information provided by surveillance would be critical in deciding what steps would be effective to control the strain’s spread.<\/p>\n What to do if you see sick or dead birds?Do not touch sick or dead birds or animals.Record details and take photos or video.Report the animal to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.<\/p>\n “Unfortunately one of the major ways that we control it around the world is if you find it in a particular cluster of birds \u2026 you have to cull them, particularly for commercial poultry,” Dr Bhadelia said.<\/p>\n “Or if you quickly detect it in migratory birds or a population of migratory birds, it’s to isolate that area and to do surveillance in it.”<\/p>\n That relied on having strong veterinary services, testing capability and strong relationships between different groups that interact with wildlife.<\/p>\n If H5N1 makes it into poultry populations, culls will likely have to occur. (ABC News: Morgan Timms)<\/p>\n Perhaps the biggest mistake other countries had made, Dr Soubeyran said, was not to fund those efforts.<\/p>\n “It’s important to invest when it’s peacetime, to have an army that is able to respond when it is war, when you have the crisis,” she said.<\/p>\n “We need all policymakers and decision-makers of the world [to] understand that animal health is not a cost, but it is really an investment.”<\/p>\n Biosecurity awareness<\/p>\n Dr Bhadelia and Dr Soubeyran agreed those measures meant it was not inevitable the disease would spread through agricultural populations if the right control measures were implemented.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/08423111ae93c77940d0ec0a8e63fd32.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ecfb4ebd87899205ffe308d9268548a0.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7839dd1e29ea7a7b9fe77587608a84a9.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ce72a14cfcd3594c0ed7980396abd656.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a775bd13fe6fc51fb8a0887dc538428c.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dozens](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fa7d30f59fe742d27b7f2f2d20d08af9.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n