NSW records first suspected case of deadly H5 bird flu as virus reaches Australia’s east coast

The deadly H5 bird flu is suspected to have arrived in the Australian state of NSW in an infected southern giant petrel. Photograph: David Osborn/Alamy

New South Wales has its first suspected case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a giant petrel that was found near Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle, on the state’s coast.

If CSIRO testing confirms it is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, it would mark the first detection of the deadly disease on the Australian east coast.