It is only a matter of time before the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu strain reaches Australian wildlife, and not only birds are at risk.
This 45 min lunchtime webinar will get you up to date with the impact of the H5N1 strain on wildlife overseas; the potential impacts it could have on Australia’s native wildlife including species and places at high risk; Australia’s national preparedness; and advice for the community on what to look for and how to respond.
Hear from speakers from The University of Melbourne Centre for Pathogen Genomics, Wildlife Health Australia and the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Given the enormity of this threat to Australian wildlife, this webinar is being jointly presented by the Biodiversity Council, Invasive Species Council, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Birdlife Australia and the Australian Land Conservation Alliance.
Speakers
Dr Michelle Wille
Senior Research Fellow·Centre for Pathogen Genomics, University of Melbourne
Dr Fiona Fraser
Threatened Species Commissioner·Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
As the Threatened Species Commissioner, Fiona’s role is to lead the implementation of Australia’s Threatened species action plan 2022–2032, along with other initiatives to recover our most imperilled plants and animals. Using the principles of science, action and partnership, Fiona works with First Nations people, conservation organisations, governments, communities and the private sector. Fiona has a PhD in threatened species and fire ecology in northern Australia. She has worked for the Australian Government for over a decade, playing lead roles in Indigenous caring for Country and natural resource management, international environment policy and the bushfire wildlife recovery response.
Dr Simone Vitali
Program Manager – Emergencies·Wildlife Health Australia
Simone graduated as a veterinarian in 1990, working in mixed practice before returning to Murdoch to complete her PhD in 1996. She was the Senior Veterinarian at Perth Zoo for over 15 years and has been involved in wildlife veterinary conservation projects involving a range of species, including Carnaby’s cockatoo, brush-tailed bettong, Christmas Island blue-tailed skink, Australian sea lion and Sumatran orangutan. Simone joined Wildlife Health Australia (WHA) in 2022 as Program Manager for Emergencies. Through the Emergencies Program, WHA works with others to safeguard the health, welfare and biodiversity of Australian wildlife in all emergencies using a collaborative One Health approach.
Dr. Michelle Wille is a virus ecologist based at the Centre for Pathogen Genomics, University of Melbourne and with an honourary position at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza. Her research focusses on the ecology and evolution of viruses in wild birds. She has worked on avian influenza viruses for over 15 years, based on Canada, Sweden and Australia. Beyond avian influenza, she has also addressed ecology and evolution of avian paramyxovirus and avian coronaviruses, and more recently has leveraged virome-scale sequencing to reveal entire virus communities in wild birds