Australia to Roll Out Bird Flu Vaccines, 5 Native Species at High Risk

‘I can announce that the first vaccines are expected to roll out in coming days and weeks,’ said Agriculture Minister Julie Collins.

Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" words in this illustration taken, June 10, 2024. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

A bird flu vaccination program for native species will be launched in Australia in the coming days to stop the virus spreading across the country.

The Labor government will begin rolling out the vaccines in response to 231 cases of H5 bird flu cases in Australia.

Agriculture Minister Julie Collins, speaking at Parliament House on Aug. 11, confirmed the timeline for the targeted vaccination approach.

“I can announce that the first vaccines are expected to roll out in coming days and weeks based on an agreed national approach to the targeted vaccination of priority native bird species,” she told reporters.

“This approach will mean that the states and territories are able to commence vaccination activities, initially focusing on priority species in captivity identified by those states and territories.”

However, she warned the government cannot stop H5 bird flu from spreading amongst wild birds.

“Australians should expect to see more spread and larger numbers, particularly of dead birds and mass mortalities around the country from the H5 bird flu. We have been very clear that this will continue to spread across the country,” she said.

About one in five mammal and bird species are on a “doom list” published by the federal environment department, according to Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough.

“We have a tsunami about to break over them from this H5N1 bird flu,” he said.

They include the Christmas Island frigate bird, the Houtman albatross, the Herald petrel, the imperial shag on Heard Island, and imperial shag on Macquarie Island.

H5 bird flu was first confirmed in Australia in June 2026 in Western Australia. Among Australia’s 231 cases as of Aug. 10, the majority were reported in South Australia, with 163 cases, and Victoria, with 53 cases.

Western Australia has 10 cases, New South Wales four, while there is one in Queensland.

Low Risk to Humans

Amid the vaccination plan, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) reassured the public on Aug. 10 that the threat to humans is minimal.

“There remain no detections in poultry or in our agricultural production system. The risk to human health remains low,” Chief Veterinary Officer Beth Cookson said.

The department, however, noted that the type of bird flu spreading was the “serious bird flu strain” that has been circulating around the world.

It also advised people not to touch or approach sick or dead birds showing signs of bird flu, and encouraged them to report the birds to the 24-hour emergency animal disease hotline.

South Australia’s 163 cases are mostly in the South East in the Limestone Coast region in towns, including Robe, Port MacDonnell and Mount Gambier near the Victorian border.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Murray Watt described the bird flu situation as a “very serious event.”

“We have, fortunately, come to this later than the rest of the world. We have been the last continent in the world to have bird flu come to our shores, and that has given Australia more time to be prepared,” he said on ABC 7.30.

“But this is going to be a very serious problem and we’re really only at the beginning of it.”