Outbreak Watch

Across All Trackers

Latest News

The most significant developments across every tracker, newest first.

• 20 Aug 2026
  H5N1 Bird Flu
  More than 1,000 crested terns are found dead in three mass mortality events on remote SA islands, Troubridge Island and the two Pages, presumed H5N1 and called a significant escalation by the Premier. South Australia's count reaches 177, and a suspected little penguin case on Kangaroo Island is under investigation

  SA PremierSA
• 18 Aug 2026
  Ebola
  The WHO emergency committee rules the outbreak remains a global emergency, far from being under control, as cases pass 5,000. The Director-General calls it the second largest Ebola outbreak ever and the fastest moving, and notes two Bundibugyo-specific vaccines have entered human trials for the first time

  WHOGlobal
• 18 Aug 2026
  H5N1 Bird Flu
  CSIRO's reference lab publishes its genomic picture: the virus is genotype B3.2, it arrived in at least six or seven separate introductions all traced to Heard Island, and near-identical South Australian tern genomes confirm local transmission. Livestock risk is judged low; a whole genome now takes 15 to 26 hours to sequence

  CSIROAU
• 15 Aug 2026
  Ebola
  A sixth province: Bas-Uele reports its first case, a death, as the epidemic posts its fastest sustained growth, roughly 95 cases a day over four days, reaching 4,945 confirmed cases and 2,325 deaths. The affected zone count widens to 55 of 151 across six provinces

  DRC via ECDCDRC
• 15 Aug 2026
  H5N1 Bird Flu
  A Phillip Island little penguin is found dead of H5N1, the first case in the colony at the centre of every Australian risk assessment and the ninth wild bird species. Victoria reaches 74 with terns at Lakes Entrance, its furthest east detection, and Dromana, its first inside Port Phillip Bay. The chief veterinary officer says conditions are conducive to spread that would bring large losses of wildlife

  Victorian CVOVIC
• 14 Aug 2026
  H5N1 Bird Flu
  Tasmania becomes the sixth affected state: the Rocky Cape brown skua appears on DAFF's national event board, leaving only the NT and ACT untouched. Within the same day, Tasmania reports a second bird, a crested tern near Currie on King Island in Bass Strait, state-lab positive and awaiting national confirmation, with two more terns from the same location in testing

  DAFFTAS
• 13 Aug 2026
  H5N1 Bird Flu
  Tasmania reports its first positive: a brown skua found dead at Rocky Cape on the north-west coast, positive at the state laboratory in Launceston and awaiting CSIRO confirmation. Once confirmed, Tasmania becomes the sixth state and only the NT and ACT remain untouched. The state calls it a single case, not an outbreak, and will vaccinate about 350 orange-bellied parrots

  NRE TasmaniaTAS
• 11 Aug 2026
  Ebola
  The largest single day of the epidemic: situation report 89 records 118 new confirmed cases and 67 deaths, with Ituri doubling its daily incidence in twenty-four hours, taking the count to 4,566 cases and 2,128 deaths at a case fatality ratio of 46.6 percent. The report itself calls it the highest daily level of confirmations since the epidemic began

  DRC INSPDRC
• 11 Aug 2026
  H5N1 Bird Flu
  Australia announces H5 vaccination for captive native birds, starting within days and weeks with endangered species in conservation breeding programs, after 18 months of unannounced safety trials. Wild birds will be vaccinated where possible; no available vaccine suits mammals. The government will also move from daily case updates to reporting major events such as mass mortalities

  DAFFAU