Sanaa: New Zealand has confirmed its first case of the H5 bird flu strain after a brown skua found on Petone Beach in the capital, Wellington, tested positive, local media reported Wednesday.

According to Anadolu Agency, Biosecurity and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard stated, "This is a coastal detection in an individual ocean-going seabird and there is no evidence of any mass mortality in wildlife or transmission between wild birds in New Zealand. There has been no detection in poultry." The detection follows the confirmation of the virus in Australia last month, making New Zealand the latest country in the region to report the highly pathogenic strain.

Hoggard emphasized that H5 bird flu poses a low risk to public health because it rarely infects humans unless there is "direct, close, and prolonged contact with large numbers of sick birds." He assured the public that eggs and poultry remain safe to eat.

Authorities have urged the public not to touch sick or dead birds and to report groups of three or more affected birds. In response, the Department of Conservation has initiated the vaccination of 300 breeding birds from five of New Zealand's most endangered species, including the kakapo and takahe, as part of preparedness efforts.

The H5 strain has been spreading among wild birds and mammals since 2021, resulting in the deaths of millions of animals and infecting poultry and dairy farms, as well as some farmworkers.