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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Lisa Cox and Sarah Basford Canales

Fur seal’s death marks first Australian mainland mammal fatality from spreading H5 bird flu strain

A fur seal, similar to this one seen sleeping in New Zealand, is the first confirmed mammal death from the deadly H5 bird flu strain on the Australian mainland
A fur seal, similar to this one seen sleeping in New Zealand, is the first confirmed mammal death from the deadly H5 bird flu strain on the Australian mainland. Photograph: David C Tomlinson/Getty Images

A long-nosed fur seal has died from H5 bird flu in South Australia, marking the first confirmed case in a mammal on the Australian mainland.

The seal was found dead at Beachport on Wednesday on the state’s Limestone Coast.

It marks a fresh escalation in the spread of the virus days after the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, announced three mass mortality events on offshore islands involving more than 1,000 greater crested terns.

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