A wildlife hospital trailer that has spent years nursing sick and injured shearwaters back to health is being fast-tracked into a registered triage facility, after the H5 bird flu virus was confirmed in a bird at Corindi Beach, the Coffs Coast’s first detection of the disease.
The Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary said it was in the final stages of converting the trailer into a dedicated triage hospital, with a gazebo planned outside it so birds can be assessed and tested.
“We are just so close to being able to actually open it as a registered wildlife triage hospital,” said Tiga Cross, Managing Director of the Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary, in comments to NBN News. “It’s just needing those last few stages, and we just want to get it now rather than later before it’s too late.”
The upgrade does not come cheap. Cross said, in comments to NBN News, that a vet would cost around $300 a day to run the hospital for a full day, while the equipment needed, including an X-ray machine and anaesthesia gear, would cost about $100,000.
“For a vet, we’re looking at around $300 a day to run the hospital, and that’ll be for a full day,” Cross said. “For our equipment, we are looking at around $100,000 for an X-ray machine and anaesthesia equipment.”
Inside the sanctuary, biosecurity measures are being stepped up, with disinfection stations already in place and full personal protective equipment now required for anyone handling a bird suspected of carrying the virus, given how contagious it is.
“Disinfection stations and we are preparing to ramp that up as we’ve had this case announced,” Cross said, again in comments to NBN News. “You know we would love to get bird netting to further protect our animals.”
The sanctuary is also looking at building a marquee tent similar to those used during COVID-19, to separate healthy and potentially infected animals.
“So for us we’re looking at trying to get some funding allocated to us to be able to build a marquee tent, similar to COVID,” Cross said in comments to 7 News. “So having sort of spaces where you have green zones that are clear and then you have infection zones where we’re treating animals and testing them.”
The Corindi Beach case was detected in a non-native bird, after a member of the public reported it. Ingrid Emery, from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s Conservation Programs, confirmed how the detection came about, speaking to 7 News.
“So a member of the public saw the species and reported it,” Emery said.
The public has been urged not to approach sick or dead birds or animals, including mammals such as foxes, and to instead call the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline. Emery also had a message for pet owners heading to the beach.
“It would be beneficial for you to keep the pet owners to keep their dogs on a lead when they’re at the beach,” Emery said, again speaking to 7 News.
So far, only one case has been recorded at Corindi, though authorities have warned that number could rise. Across New South Wales, 22 cases of bird flu have now been confirmed. Nationally, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has reported well over 200 confirmed or presumed positive detections, the vast majority in wild seabirds such as terns and petrels, though officials maintain there is still no detection in poultry or agricultural systems and the risk to human health remains low.
A government spokesperson said, in comments to NBN News, that preparations were well underway ahead of any further spread.
“We’re working closely with organisations that provide care to wildlife, and we’ve been engaging with them through the New South Wales government agencies as part of our preparedness for this,” the spokesperson said.
Time is short. Shearwaters are due back along the Coffs Coast next month, potentially bringing hundreds of birds needing help, and the sanctuary fears many that are simply exhausted or injured, rather than infected, may miss out on care because of the virus’s presence in the area. Wildlife health experts have flagged seabirds as among the groups most vulnerable to the strain, and once it takes hold in a wild population there is no cure, only surveillance and containment.
The NSW Government said no funding had yet been allocated to wildlife groups, but it was under consideration.
“At this stage there is no funding available but it is absolutely something that we are looking at,” Emery said in comments to 7 News.
For Cross, the stakes could not be higher for the shearwater colony.
“Saving as many of these birds as possible because there may not be many returning to the island because of HBA,” Cross said in comments to 7 News.
Got something you want to say about this story? Have your say on our opinion and comment hub, North Coast Times Engage