[Contagious Conversations] H5N1 avian flu hits our shores

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The avian flu H5N1 known as 2.3.4.4b has been tearing around the globe since 2021 causing significant mortality in sea birds and mammals. The Australian and New Zealand mainland were the last holdouts, but this virus was first detected near Esperance, WA on June 20^th 2026 and then near Wellington, NZ on Jul 14^th. Both cases involved a bird known as the brown skua, which travels across the Southern Ocean, and by August 24^th the H5N1 had also been confirmed in fur seals in South Australia and associated with one seal death. While risk to humans from this clade is currently negligible, ID experts are concerned for the health of this domestic poultry and livestock, which have been hard hit internationally, and wild birds and marsupials which would be much harder to protect. This podcast discusses the surveillance and response from a One Health perspective.

Credits

Guests
Michelle Wille PhD (University of Melbourne; Doherty Institute; WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza)
Associate Professor Michael Nissen MBBS FRACP FRCPA FFS (Royal Brisbane Hospital; Research Director, Prince Charles Hospital; University of Queensland.

Host
Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake FRACP (Canberra Hospital; Australian National University)

Production
Production by Mic Cavazzini DPhil Dr Candice Holland, ASID. Thanks also to Inge Meggitt, events coordinator at ASID. Music licenced from Epidemic Sound includes ‘Exploring the Lake’ by View Points and ‘Emerlyn’ by Valante. Image copyright ASID (2026).