Bird flu: no threat to Australia from new strain
6 September 2011
Experts remain confident Australia will remain free of bird flu despite the emergence of a strain of the virus with heightened ability to infect birds.
A UN body last week warned of a new variety of avian influenza H5N1 (known as H5N1-2.3.2.1) circulating in China and Vietnam, which may trigger a flare-up in global transmission and pose "unpredictable risks to human health".
Professor Peter Doherty, from the University of Melbourne’s department of microbiology, said Indonesia’s dominance of lab-confirmed H5N1 infection and deaths in humans was likely the result of "illegal movement" of birds rather than bird migratory patterns.
"We have not had any H5N1 bird flu outbreaks [in Australia] ... though this virus is active in countries to our north and west," he said.
"We are protected by our quarantine and by Wallace’s Line [the geographic boundary separating the Asian and Australian animal regions], which determines [bird] migration patterns."
Last Reviewed: 09 September 2011
- 1. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Bird flu rears its head again (29 Aug 2011). http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/87196/icode/ (accessed Sep 2011).
2. World Health Organization. Global alert and response. Avian influenza. Latest information (19 Aug 2011). http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/ (accessed Sep 2011).
