Australia's environment minister Murray Watt says there is no evidence yet of bird flu transmission to Australian wildlife, but more cases may emerge. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
Watt was asked about the big story in his portfolio – bird flu, of which cases have now been detected in WA and South Australia.
The environment minister says that there are so far four confirmed cases, and all have involved a migratory bird.
He repeats all state, territory and federal governments have undertaken preparedness plans over the last couple of years to deal with any outbreak.
"There’s no evidence at this point in time there’s been any transmission from those migratory birds to the broader Australian wildlife population. That’s obviously a good thing. That’s something we won’t want to see happen," Watt said.
"I wouldn’t want to predict exactly what will happen from here. It is possible that we’ll see more cases over the next few days or weeks. But what I can say to people is that we’re prepared and … we want people to avoid contact with sick or dead birds. We want them to record and report any sightings they come across, so we can ensure that testing is done," he added.