On Aug. 12, 2026, the Australian Associated Press reported Australia’s poultry farmers can expect a bird flu mortality rate similar to the devastating outbreak in the United States, an expert says. The warning comes as the Melbourne Royal Show cancels its poultry competition at this year’s event, citing uncertainty about the growing outbreak.

Genetic similarities had been found between the US virus and the H5 mutation ravaging the southern hemisphere’s wildlife, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness scientist Frank Wong said. “Chickens in general are very susceptible to highly pathogenic bird flu viruses,” he told a CSIRO briefing on Wednesday. “We want the industry to be aware and do the best it can, in terms of biosecurity and other strategies that are in place to minimise the interaction between wild birds and poultry flocks.”

Debbie Eagles, also from the Centre for Disease Preparedness, said a range of vaccines had been used for poultry including some manufactured in Australia for previous outbreaks. No poultry vaccine was currently being manufactured in Australia, Dr Eagles said.

There have been no confirmed H5 cases in the Australian poultry industry. The deadly strain has hit Australian shores with a total of almost 300 infections confirmed on Wednesday, a day after the federal government rolled out vaccines for captive populations of threatened birds.

Losses have exceeded 200 million across the US and Puerto Rico since the outbreak hit in 2022, accounting for about three-quarters of total domestic poultry loss, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. It would be almost impossible to stop the virus from causing a similar scale of devastation for Australia’s poultry industry once the deadly strain was established, Dr Wong said.

The national bird flu tally blew out to 285 with another 49 cases confirmed on Wednesday. All of them were wild seabirds in South Australia including 39 greater crested terns, six silver gulls and four pacific gulls, the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness confirmed. More than 5000 penguins on Phillip Island and in St Kilda will be vaccinated from early next week, the Victorian government said.

Dr Wong said while H5 remained an avian-adapted virus, there had been spillover infections to 55 different mammalian species around the world. He said most of the infections involved scavengers or predatory species.

The endangered Tasmanian devil is an apex mammalian predator and a noted scavenger. “These animals feed on sick and infected birds and then become infected themselves,” Dr Wong said. Domestic animals, livestock and pets including dogs, cats, rats and cattle can also be infected, as well as humans.

The threat to human health remained low, Dr Wong said.