Mm

... which would be at risk, and then obviously commercial poultry.

In terms of mammals, the marine mammals are at risk.

We know that they've been badly affected in other countries.

Sea lion colonies across the coast in WA and, um, South Australia, multiple parts of Australia.

You know, we've, we've seen animals like dolphins get infected.

And then in terms of our terrestrial mammals, you know, there's species like Tasmanian devils that forage on dead birds, so they have been identified as being at risk.

No.

Head of the Kirby Institute Biosecurity Program at the University of New South Wales, Professor Raina McIntyre, says while Australia is well prepared for an outbreak, wild birds are difficult to control.

I think Australia always has had very strong biosecurity and good preparedness.

So I think we're very well prepared.

It's the wild birds.

That's the factor that's difficult to control.

We can control what happens on farms.

You know, we can implement controls in the things that are within human control, like what we do with farms, cat trade of infected animals.

When placed around poultry, however, Professor McIntyre says pigs can be a risk.

Mm

... such as in South Africa.

There's been healthcare workers, paramedics, passengers on airplanes, 'cause some of the people who got infected were on commercial airlines, including the Swiss patient, went back to Switzerland and then heard about it on the news and presented with symptoms.

With any travel-related outbreak, there's always the possibility of dispersal around the world.

And the other interesting point is that the cases that tested positive in the US and Spain were asymptomatic at the time they tested positive.

You know, it's not a super common disease like influenza or COVID, so we don't have as much research about it.

But from what's known, we can't rule out asymptomatic transmission-

Hmm