E fundit!

09:53 CRIME

He was distributing cocaine in Tirana/ The 44-year-old man was arrested

Following intensive controls and work based on police inte...

Australia confirms first case of H5N1 bird flu/ Virus present on every continent

2026-06-20 08:42:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Australia has confirmed for the first time the presence of the H5N1 strain of bird flu on its territory, marking the last continent where this highly contagious variant of the virus was still undetected.

Australian Agriculture Minister Julie Collins announced that the virus was identified in a migratory seabird, a brown skua, in a remote area of ??Western Australia. According to local media, the bird was found on a beach in Cape Le Grand National Park, near the town of Esperance.

With this confirmation, Australia becomes the last continent where the H5N1 variant has been recorded, making the virus now present on all continents of the world.

"We all knew we couldn't be without bird flu forever," Collins told a news conference. She also announced that authorities were investigating a second suspected case in a southern petrel found exhausted on a beach in Esperance, but stressed that there were currently no signs of mass animal mortality.

Australian authorities have begun monitoring the situation, while Fiona Fraser stated that it is expected to be determined within a few days whether the virus has spread to other animal populations.

Meanwhile, the country's chief veterinarian, Beth Cookson, said that authorities have long been preparing for such a scenario and that the animal disease emergency committee met immediately after the case was confirmed.

The H5N1 strain was previously detected in the remote Australian territories of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, where it has caused severe consequences for wildlife. A recent study estimates that over 13,000 baby seals have died on Heard Island as a result of the virus, while significant losses in penguin populations have also been recorded.

H5N1 bird flu is a virus that mainly affects birds, but can also infect other animals such as seals, foxes and otters. Cases of infection in humans remain rare and are usually linked to direct contact with sick animals. Scientists believe that the global spread of the virus has been largely facilitated by the migration of wild birds./ CNA