Mainland Australia’s first suspected case of deadly H5N1 investigated after seabird tests positive for bird flu

A sick migratory bird tested positive for avian influenza and has since died, Australia’s federal agriculture minister Julie Collins says. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

A migratory seabird found in southern Western Australia has tested positive for avian influenza with further testing under way to confirm if it is Australia’s first mainland case of the deadly H5N1 strain.

The brown skua, a subantarctic species, was found at Cape Le Grand national park on Sunday and had since died, the WA government said on Friday.