Australia confirms first H5 bird flu mass mortality event in seabirds

On a remote island off South Australia's coast, the theoretical became the tangible: dozens of greater crested terns confirmed dead from H5 bird flu mark Australia's first documented mass wildlife mortality from the virus. CSIRO testing has now traced the pathogen across five states and 74 confirmed cases, tracing the quiet arc of a crisis that officials had long anticipated but hoped to delay. Ministers speak not of surprise but of threshold — a line crossed, a new chapter begun in the long relationship between a continent's wildlife and a virus that has reshaped ecosystems across the globe.