New Zealand Confirms First Case of Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu

New Zealand has confirmed the first detection of a highly pathogenic H5 bird flu strain after a brown skua tested positive at Petone Beach in the capital Wellington, a senior official said on Wednesday. “This is a coastal detection in a seabird that lives on the open ocean and there is no evidence of mass wildlife deaths or transmission among wild birds in New Zealand. There have been no detections in poultry,” said Biosecurity and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard in a statement. The virus, identified as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, is circulating globally and has recently been found in sporadic cases in coastal birds in Australia. The statement noted that H5 bird flu poses a low risk to human health as it rarely infects people unless there is direct, close, and prolonged contact with large numbers of sick birds, adding that eggs and poultry remain safe to consume. Authorities urged the public not to touch or handle sick or dead birds and to report groups of three or more affected birds. The Department of Conservation has begun vaccinating 300 breeding birds from five of New Zealand’s most endangered species, including the kakapo and takahe, as part of preparedness efforts.