00:02Patrolling WA shores, authorities upping the ante as the number of cases of the deadly avian
00:08influenza gradually ticks up. Reaching the beaches of metropolitan Perth, a new suspected case of the
00:14H5 virus has been found in Mullaloo. I reiterate that we are still in the surveillance phase.
00:20This is another single migratory bird. New South Wales has also detected its first suspected case
00:26at Bennet's Beach near Hawksnest. The CSIRO are still confirming samples from the two birds which
00:31would add to the five already confirmed cases in WA and South Australia. But with no evidence of
00:37transmission to local wildlife, funding put aside to deal with a potential outbreak is still being
00:43held in reserve. We will have more diseased birds blowing in on our beaches around the country so
00:51that need for active surveillance now is it's critical. We have been working with the poultry
00:56and the egg industries to do everything that we can do to mitigate against any incursions in our
01:02agricultural systems. The New South Wales government will also ramp up its patrols asking the public to
01:08stay alert but calm. We've trained up over 500 people be them working for the government or private
01:15vets. Out of 500 people are now working on surveillance. We have been preparing for this
01:21event for several years. But there are concerns about a gap in community messaging with different
01:27wildlife organisations offering different advice. There's some mixed messages in the community so now
01:33is the time for targeted clear messages to different groups for example wildlife carers. The message
01:40for the public, avoid, seek and dead birds, record them and report them.
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