Bird flu reaches suburban streets in troubling new shift - realestate.com.au Your backyard could be the next battleground in Australia's bird flu crisis, with more than 500 wildlife cases now recorded nationwide and infected foxes detected in suburbia for the first time. South Australia has emerged…
Bird flu reaches suburban streets in troubling new shift - realestate.com.au
Your backyard could be the next battleground in Australia's bird flu crisis, with more than 500 wildlife cases now recorded nationwide and infected foxes detected in suburbia for the first time. South Australia has emerged as the nation's hotspot with 281 confirmed cases as of September 8, many of them across inner and outer metropolitan suburbs, as experts warn household bins, pet food and backyard animals may be helping draw pests into residential streets. Nationally, that number sits at 502 confirmed positive H5 bird flu events in wildlife, 155 in Victoria, 32 in Tasmania, 10 each in New South Wales and Western Australia, and two in Queensland.
The warning follows the detection of H5 bird flu in a red fox in metropolitan Adelaide in late August, the first time the virus has been found in a land mammal in Australia. That was followed by authorities in Victoria confirming a fox found dead at Torquay, southwest of Melbourne, had also died from bird flu. While authorities are not currently concerned about fox-to-fox transmission, there are fears the animals could spread risk in another way by dragging infected carcasses through neighbourhoods and into suburban yards.
Vertebrate pest controller and biodiversity surveyor Lisette Mill said the spread of bird flu into foxes near major cities was hardly a surprise, given how attractive Australian suburbs had become. "A lot of people think that rural and conservation areas have the most foxes, but in urban areas it's almost double, sometimes triple the density per square kilometres of foxes," Ms Mill told the ABC. "There's places to hide: rubbish bins, compost bins. Pet food in backyards, you name it. Cities are just forests of food for a fox."
Experts say homes with unsecured bins, outdoor pet food, open compost, backyard chickens and easy access to small animals can make ideal hunting grounds for foxes, particularly sick or weakened ones taking bigger risks. Ms Mill described the moment as a "rethink" for the whole country, saying city dwellers now had to see themselves as part of the biosecurity response. She said backyard chooks, guinea pigs and rabbits were all potential prey for hungry foxes, and warned households should assume foxes may already be moving through their yard after dark.
She urged residents to keep properties clear of food sources, secure waste bins and remove the possibility of any interaction between foxes and household animals. "They come closer to houses, to sheds because they're unwell, so they want to get food as quickly and easily as possible," she said. Online, worried residents are already reporting close encounters with foxes in suburban streets. "We have a fox that prowls around Bowden and interacts with cats and dogs … and birds …," one South Australian woman wrote on Facebook. "Fox numbers in suburbia are higher because they get dealt with in rural areas. They are smart, they know where they are safe," another person wrote.
The groups warned cats could contract the virus by catching, killing or eating infected animals, and said roaming pets could help move bird flu from wild birds into new bird and mammal populations. They argued cat containment was now a "critical conservation strategy", warning a cat returning home after an outdoor excursion could potentially shed the virus through saliva, nasal secretions and faeces.
Environment Minister Emily Bourke said it was important for cats to be kept indoors, but stopped short of backing a statewide curfew. "We have, and continue to, encourage people to keep cats on their property safely confined and dogs on leads – especially with bird flu numbers increasing in wild birds," she said. "We know cats that are left to roam prey on wildlife and now – more than ever – it's important to keep them indoors, not only for the protection of our native species but for their protection as well."
