Bird Flu update and the risks to our small colony

High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 has established in Australia and appears to be slowly spreading along the southern coast including into NSW. At this stage we don’t know how this will progress in our coastal seabirds but we can look to interstate and overseas experiences as an indication.  

There have been limited confirmed cases of Little Penguins with H5N1 in Australia so far. There is no actual data on either infection rates or virulence and subsequent mortality for Little Penguins to date. The few incidents have been isolated, and advanced decomposition meant largely inconclusive testing results.

Other species of penguin overseas have recorded deaths, but these were generally not a high proportion of the large colony population. These overseas colonies are often quite densely populated, surface dwellers and there can be high transmission risk through respiratory or faecal material in a large dense colony. In contrast, the Eden Little Penguin population is very small, and there does not appear to be significant mingling amongst individuals. This, combined with the habit of Little Penguins to nest sparsely amongst rock debris or in burrows, means our Eden birds should have a significantly reduced risk of infection.

Existing H5N1 bird transmissions in Australia appear to often involve groups of oceanic terns. Eden has the advantage of no breeding or significant roost sites of Greater Crested Tern near Twofold Bay, which also reduces localised risk of transmission. It is unclear how much oceanic interaction there may be between Eden penguins and Merimbula estuarine dwelling terns. 

In terms of people and Little Penguins at Eden, transmission of H5N1 from birds to humans is highly unlikely. Overseas there have been very few transmission cases and they have generally been related to workers at infected intensive poultry farms with poor hygiene protocols and a small but significant number of infections of US dairy workers from asymptomatic cattle. Any human 'interaction' with Eden's penguins is limited to occasional visual observation of birds coming ashore during Guardian watches for potential predators. All such observations should always be made at a distance, for the safety of the observer but also to reduce stressful disturbance to the penguins, so there should never be capacity for any infection transfer to the penguin Guardians. 

What to do if you find unwell birds?

If any dead or apparently unwell birds are discovered, DO NOT TOUCH and please keep pets away.  

Call the Emergency Hotline 1800 675 888. Follow their instructions. 

AVOID, RECORD, REPORT.

While this assessment may change as the situation changes daily and new information is gained, we remain hopeful that the chance of Eden Little Penguins becoming exposed to H5N1 is low.

Article by Nicholas Carlile & Lisa O’Neill - Seabird Ecologists