Can I get sick from bird flu? What are the symptoms, and are chicken and eggs safe to eat?

As the deadly H5N1 virus makes landfall in Australia, experts hope strong biosecurity will protect poultry and dairy cattle

• Brown skuas and giant petrels rarely make landfall. When they were found in WA, scientists feared ‘bad news’ for wildlife

• ‘A genuine wildlife emergency’: everything you need to know about the arrival of H5 bird flu in Australia

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Australia was the only continent free of H5N1 bird flu until last week, when a brown skua with the virus was found in Cape Le Grand national park in Western Australia, about 700km from Perth. Within days, authorities identified at least 16 other dead birds.

Bird flu can rarely spread to humans in close contact with infected birds or animals and has the potential to cause severe illness. More than 100 human H5N1 cases have been reported around the world since late 2020, mostly in the US and Cambodia.

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