First human H5N1 case reported in Australia as another highly pathogenic strain of bird flu detected on Victorian farm

Bird flu was detected at an egg farm near Meredith in western Victoria after a number of poultry deaths. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

A highly pathogenic strain of bird flu has been detected in Australia for the first time, in a child returning from overseas.

The report comes as Victorian authorities confirmed that a bird flu outbreak on an egg farm is not the H5N1 strain that is causing global concern but is another highly pathogenic strain.