Bird Flu

The federal government is warning the arrival of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza was unavoidable.

The strain, which is yet to hit Australia, could devastate both the poultry industry and native wildlife.

The new H5N1 strain of bird flu spreading around the globe could put the future of Tasmanian devils at risk, Australia's official chief vet has warned.

Australia is the one continent so far uncontaminated by a devastating strain of the disease.

The deadly H5N1 strain has reached the most remote place on Earth, and it has experts alarmed.

NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe has expressed serious concern about the penguin colony in Sydney's north.

People are urged to take caution with several strains of the disease circulating across several continents.

It's the second site the virus has been found at in the territory.

Woolworths has joined Coles in restricting customers to two egg cartons each.

Australia's bird flu outbreak has spread to an eighth Victorian farm, with a highly contagious strain of the disease detected at a commercial egg farm in the Meredith area.

A second outbreak of Bird flu has been detected at a commercial egg farm in Sydney's Hawkesbury region.

The outbreak is believed to have come from wild birds and is separate to strains found in Victoria.

The property has been put into an immediate biosecurity lockdown after the disease was confirmed today.

A duck farm is the latest to detect the fatal virus among its flock.

Egg farmers are calling on Agriculture Victoria to take further action to halt the spread of bird flu across the state's poultry industry, as fears of an nationwide egg shortage mount.

Lower stock has also been reported at other supermarkets as shortages linked to bird flu disrupt supply.

Even as the United States grapples with an outbreak of H5N1 flu in dairy cattle, the World Health Organisation has announced the first known human infection with a different strain, H5N2, in a person in Mexico.

Authorities said the detection was expected due to ongoing investigation and surveillance.

The contaminated site is home to about 80,000 free range hens.

This is the second human case reported in the state and the fourth ever in the US.

The flu has already caused numerous poultry deaths. 

A less dangerous strain of the disease was detected in Western Australia today.

The bird flu detected at a Victorian egg farm is not the strain currently causing havoc around the world, experts have confirmed.

A child in Victoria has been confirmed as the first case of avian influenza in Australia.

The largest producer of fresh eggs in the United States said it has stopped production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens there.

US health authorities issued an alert asking health care providers to monitor for additional cases of avian influenza.

Highly pathogenic bird flu has made its first appearances in US commercial poultry flocks this season.

The disease has recently gained notoriety for its devastating impact on the commercial poultry sector and as an emerging human public health threat.

It comes as the World Health Organisation described the situation as "worrying" following the 11-year-old's death.

The father of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia who died this week after contracting bird flu has tested positive for the virus but has not displayed any major symptoms, health authorities said.

Nebraska agriculture officials say another 1.8 million chickens must be killed after bird flu was found on a farm in the latest sign that the outbreak that has already prompted the slaughter of more than 50 million birds throughout the US continues to spread.

A bird flu outbreak in northern Israel has killed at least 5200 migratory cranes and forced farmers to slaughter hundreds of thousands of chickens

Several outbreaks of severe bird flu in Europe and Asia have been reported in recent days to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in a sign the virus is spreading quickly again.

The first case of a bird flu strain, H5N8, being passed from poultry to humans has been reported in Russia.

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in Victoria's west, with an emergency alert being issued to the Golden Plains Shire.

Movement controls are now in place to stop the spread of the highly contagious disease.