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Health experts are closely monitoring the spread of avian flu following an outbreak on a mink farm in Spain, which represents the first known instance of the virus being passed among a species other than birds.
UNSW virologist, Professor Bill Rawlinson said there was no cause for immediate concern but people should be aware of the risk.
Since first appearing in the mid-1990s, the H5N1 strain of avian flu has had scientists and health authorities worried about its potential to evolve into a pandemic.
"The worry is a deadly H5N1 strain could mutate in a mammal like a mink and become more adaptable to people, but it doesn't appear we're on the cusp of that at the moment," Prof Rawlinson said.
The virus has been widely recorded in non-avian species such as pigs, tigers, otters and foxes, but until now has never been recorded as being able to spread from mammal to mammal.
It is also possible for humans to contract the disease through contact with an infected bird's saliva, mucous or faeces, and half of the 868 cases in people since 2003 have resulted in death.
Australia's largest outbreak of bird flu occurred in Victoria in 2020, impacting the local poultry industry for over a year before being eradicated.
The H5N1 strain responsible for current concerns has never been detected in Australia.
If avian flu were to pose a significant direct or indirect threat to Australia, the federal government says it would activate the Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza.
This plan outlines Australia's strategy in the event of an influenza pandemic, however, according to the government's website was last updated in August 2019, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Prof Rawlinson said a more worrying sign to look out for than recent developments would be the virus spreading between mammals that are more genetically similar to humans, such as other primates.
"Pigs would be the other concern as they can be more easily infected with both human and avian flu strains, so may have potential to pass a super strain on to humans," he said.
"Thankfully, that doesn't always seem to be the primary way avian infections cause human infections and hasn't been as much of an issue as we've feared to this point."
