Saturday, August 15, 2026

Bird flu reaches Australia: 30 years of evolving and migrating

 
Screengrab and headline:  The Guardian, 8/14/2026

In 1996, geese in poultry farms in the Guangdong province of southern China started to get sick with a virus causing “bleeding and neurological dysfunction” and then death.
A strain of avian influenza had likely arrived as a relatively harmless virus in migrating wild birds but had morphed into something “highly pathogenic”, killing about 40% of infected geese. 
Now, after appearing and disappearing, evolving and mutating and traversing the planet – leaving millions of dead birds and mammals in its wake – a descendant of that same H5N1 virus is, 30 years later, killing wild birds in Australia. 
“Right from the beginning there was great concern about the emergence of this virus,” says Dr Frank Wong, a virologist and avian influenza expert at the CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.

Other bird flu posts:
August 11-15, 2026

August 6-10, 2026

August 1-5, 2026

July 24-31, 2026

July 16-23

July 6-15
The Internet has made us stupid (bird flu edition).  (7/9)

July 1-5:

June 21-30

June 11-20:

June 1-10:

May 16-31

May 11-15

May 6-10

May 1-5:

April 26-30:

April 21-25:
California bird flu news:  It's everywhere, it's everywhere!  (4/23)

April 16-20
 
April 11-15:

April 6-10:  
Even the 1% have to deal with bird flu  (The Hamptons Long Island edition).  (4/9)

April 1-5
Lancaster County Pennsylvania reports yet another case of bird flu. (4/1

March 26-31:

March 21-25:

March 16-20:

March 11-15, 2025

March 6-10, 2026.  

March 1-5, 2026

February 20-28,2026
SHOCKER!!  Dead birds found in Ohio gated community.  Bird flu suspected.  (2/21)

February 10-19, 2026
February 1-9, 2026

January 21-31, 2026

January 11-20, 2026
New York tells resident don't touch those dead birds.  (1/17)

January 1-10, 2026
Bird flu strain of avian influenza:  "The picture has grown darker and stranger than most would have imagined".  (1/8)
Bird flu reported on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. (1/8)Dozens of vultures die of bird flu in North Carolina.  (1/8)

December 16-31, 2025

December 1-15, 2025

November 15-30, 2025

November 1-15, 2025

October 2025

September 2025

April-August 2025



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