Australia Warns 50% of Households Feed Birds, Raising H5N1 Superspreader Risk
Updated
Updated · The Conversation · Aug 24
Australia Warns 50% of Households Feed Birds, Raising H5N1 Superspreader Risk
3 articles · Updated · The Conversation · Aug 24
Summary
Backyard bird feeding could intensify Australia’s H5N1 outbreak by creating transmission hotspots where unusually large mixes of wild birds gather in close contact.
About 50% of Australian households feed wild birds, often daily, and researchers say seeds and meat scraps draw species together in combinations and numbers that would not occur naturally.
H5N1 has already killed more than 1,000 crested terns and a long-nosed fur seal in Australia, the first mainland mammal detection, while threatened birds such as the orange-bellied parrot face added extinction risk.
The safest step is to stop feeding birds altogether; if people continue, they should offer less food, avoid hand-feeding and disinfect feeders and surfaces with domestic bleach.
People should not touch sick or dead birds or marine mammals, but instead photograph them from a safe distance, keep pets away and report sightings to 1800 675 888.