SYDNEY: Scientists have detected the highly contagious H5 bird flu in an Australian seabird for the first time, the government said on Friday (Jul 10).Australia was, for years, the only continental landmass free of the H5 strain, which has caused severe disease and high death rates in poultry and wild birds worldwide.A total of 12 cases of H5 bird flu have been confirmed in Australia since June, but all of them were in migratory seabirds, not local wildlife.Laboratory testing confirmed the disease had infected a greater crested tern in the town of Robe, South Australia. "While this, of course, is a concerning development, it is not unexpected," Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said."I do want to reiterate, though, that at this time there is still no evidence of any mass mortality due to