Australia Confirms First H5N1 Bird Flu Case on Sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island
Australia on Saturday, October 17, confirmed its first case of H5N1 bird flu on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, with the virus found in the remote territory's elephant seal population. Chief Veterinary Officer Beth Cookson said official testing confirmed the highly pathogenic strain "in samples collected from an elephant seal and a kelp gull on Macquarie Island, marking the first H5 event on this island."
Macquarie Island, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed territory in the Southern Ocean halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica, is a key breeding ground for southern elephant seals. The mammals, which can weigh up to 3,600 kg, are particularly susceptible to H5 bird flu, with pup mortality rates in some cases above 90 percent, according to the federal government.
Australia in June became the last continent to report bird flu; the virus was detected in late 2025 on Heard Island, another sub-Antarctic territory, where local media said more than 13,000 baby seals were killed. In August, the environment department withdrew personnel from the Macquarie Island research station over the psycho-social risk of a potential outbreak. (GSM, based on Reuters reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 南大洋象海豹。Southern elephant seals. Photo by Brocken Inaglory, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
