Sydney, June 20 (SANA)The H5N1 strain ofbird fluhas for the first time been found inAustralia, the country’s agriculture ministry confirmed.Australia announced the registration of the first infection with the highly pathogenic strain “H5N1” of bird flu.The disease was found in a migratory seabird, a brown skua, in remote Western Australia, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said on Saturday.The bird was found on a beach at the Cape Le Grand National Park near the town of Esperance, about 700km (434 mi) south-east of Perth, according to local media.Australia was previously the only continent where the H5N1 bird flu strain had not been found.The Australian authorities confirmed that they had raised the state of alert by tightening biosecurity measures along the coasts, intensifying monitoring and investigation operations to preserve endangered wild species, as well as conducting simulations of emergency response plans, and testing the readiness of the medical and veterinary sectors to confront any potential outbreak.The strain can spread quickly among poultry and wild bird populations. Human cases tied to thediseaseremain uncommon.