When news broke over the weekend that Australia’s first mainland bird flu case in a mammal – the death of a long-nosed fur seal – had been detected, I felt deep sadness and dread for what’s likely to come next. We should expect large scale deaths of mammals, in addition to birds.
The deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu has been spreading across Australia and devastating wildlife. So infection in a mammal was tragically just a matter of time.
