General News
26 June, 2026
Bird flu a disaster waiting to happen
BARRY'S CORNER: There is a lot of discussion about birds in recent times and not all of it good.
There is an ongoing focus on the relatively common species and rightly so.
This group includes the Magpie which won the vote as the most popular bird at the last season community vote by Birdlife Australia.
Birdlife runs the annual national community vote and is based in Melbourne.
There has been a growing interest with appreciation of birds across the nation and it is distressing to watch the spread of a bird flu virus just entering the country from another country.
This virus has been festering for a number of years and has recently moved rapidly to our horror and it sounds as if it is making its unwanted and disastrous presence felt in Australia and some islands off shore.
A virus in a human population is hard enough to wipeout without spending a lot of money and marshalling and training up a skilled workforce.
The scientists are grappling with this outbreak with the knowledge and tools they have hand.
But this is going to be a real challenge; the birds fly from country to country without restriction and mix with other birds who may have mingled with effected species and be carrying the virus and it is easily spread.
Great care should be taken if anybody comes across a potentially infected bird.
Beaches, lakes and waterbodies are likely places to come onto a sick and ailing bird.
They should not be handled at all.
This could be a total disaster for our birds and at this stage there does not appear to be much that can be done about it.
This virus has the potential to be a huge threat to industry, the farmers, community, wild birds and the environment and we can only hope the scientists get a break through in time to stop this slide into extinction. It does not show a serene future.
This could be a real tragedy after all the terrific work that has been put into action and the research findings that have revealed many secrets have been unravelled.
I hope it is not as dark and gloomy as I understand at present. It is much better to have a positive attitude.
I can only hope this and other virus are headed off at the pass.