Canberra, Oct 14 (IANS): The Australian government has committed new funding to boost preparedness for the potential arrival of a deadly strain of bird flu.
The government on Monday announced an additional 95 million Australian dollars ($63.9 million) for biosecurity, environmental, and public health measures to protect Australia against the H5N1 strain of high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI).
Australia is the only continent where the strain has not been detected. A global outbreak has caused mass deaths of wild birds and some mammal species since 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.
Experts have warned that the spread of the strain to Australia is inevitable and could occur as migratory birds arrive in the country for southern spring and summer.
The new funding includes 37 million AUD ($24.9 million) for initiatives to protect Australian agriculture in the event of H5N1 outbreaks and 35.9 million AUD ($24.1 million) for environmental measures and protective action for threatened species.
A further 22.1 million AUD ($14.8 million) will be spent on strengthening public health preparedness by increasing the number of ready-to-use pandemic flu vaccines in the National Medical Stockpile.
"While Australia remains free from HPAI H5N1, the awful reality of this disease is that, like the rest of the world, we will not be able to prevent its arrival," Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement.
"I am particularly concerned about the potential impact on species already at risk of extinction and not well placed to cope with significant mortalities. This includes marine mammals such as the endangered Australian sea lion, and sea birds like the Christmas Island frigatebird which has only one breeding site."
Minister for Health Mark Butler said that human infections with avian influenza viruses are rare but that there is no room for complacency.
It takes the government's total funding for the H5N1 response past 100 million AUD ($67.3 million) after an announcement in July of 6.9 million AUD ($4.6 million) to enhance national preparedness and response capability.