00:02On the coast of King Island, more grim news about a dangerous virus.
00:07Overnight we have confirmed another case of H5 bird flu.
00:10A member of the public called in the crested tern,
00:15which was collected by NRE staff from Currie on King Island yesterday.
00:19Another two crested terns were later found dead along the same stretch of beach
00:24and are undergoing testing.
00:25At this point in time we have not located any further sick birds or dead birds on King Island,
00:32but surveillance is continuing and will continue over the weekend.
00:36It comes after Tasmania confirmed its first case on Thursday
00:40after an infected brown skewer was found at Rocky Cape in the state's northwest.
00:45But there's still no sign of any mass mortality among wildlife
00:49and the state's poultry and dairy farms remain virus free.
00:53We currently do not have an outbreak.
00:55However, I recognise this is very unsettling for the community.
01:00Increased biosecurity measures have been introduced at wildlife parks
01:04like the Hobart Zoo and Aquarium,
01:06which has used federal funding to create safer enclosures
01:10for its critically endangered swift parrots.
01:13All the measures involved in that exhibit have ensured
01:15that transmission of the virus is not going to get in touch with our birds.
01:19It's not just zoos like this that are having to deal with the impact of bird flu.
01:24The Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania has decided to cancel one of its major events as a precaution.
01:31The Royal Hobart Poultry and Pigeon Show was supposed to be held next weekend,
01:35but the cages will remain empty.
01:37If you bring a thousand birds here to Hobart, house them all in close quarters
01:42and then send them all home, worst case scenario,
01:44we've just spread bird flu throughout the entire state.
01:47I think the actual risk of that was low, but the consequences were catastrophic.
01:52I was looking forward to exhibiting next weekend when 24 birds entered.
01:58It's a bit of a disappointment that it's not going to come around,
02:01but I understand the situation.
02:04A situation that's likely to get worse over the coming weeks and months.
02:08a situation that I would have been in place.
02:09I'm the one who has never been in place.
02:09I'm the one who has never been in place.
02:12I am the one who has never been in place.
02:14I don't think that's the case.
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