More penguins found dead on King Island, seven more cases of bird flu confirmed

An extra 23 penguins have been found dead on King Island after the 28 from yesterday.

Another four birds from the island have been confirmed to have bird flu, bringing the Tasmanian total to 18.

Incident Controller Wes Ford said 14 of the positive detections in Tasmania were from beaches and bays around Currie on King Island.

“We have now identified an additional 23 dead penguins, bringing the total to 51; however, we are still waiting on the test results for these birds,” Mr Ford said.

“As a result, we are deploying more staff to increase our surveillance, monitoring and collection activities in the area.

“We are committed to supporting the King Island community and local industries through ongoing surveillance, regular communication and timely advice as we continue to monitor the situation.”

The focus remains on early detection, strong surveillance and rapid response.

“At this point, there is still no evidence of mass mortalities, and there is still no detection in Tasmanian poultry. Chicken and eggs remain safe to eat,” Mr Ford said.

“We continue to provide advice to the community that we expect further detections, both on King Island, on the north west coast, and over time, in other areas of Tasmania.”

Mr Ford said the Department of Health advised that human infection with H5 bird flu was rare.

“The current risk of H5 bird flu to people in Tasmania is low,” Mr Ford said.

“People can prevent getting bird flu by staying away from sick or dead birds and other animals, including their feathers, fluids, saliva, faeces (droppings) and other contaminated material.

“We will continue to keep the community up to date with positive detections.”

Of the seven new detections - all of which were found on King Island - four were silver gulls, two were crested terns, and one was a white-fronted tern, a species not previously recorded with a positive detection in Tasmania.