Nearly 100 reports of sick or dead birds have flooded WA’s emergency animal disease hotline in just three days following the State’s first confirmed detection of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain.

Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis revealed 94 calls were made to the hotline between Saturday and Monday, as public concern surged after two infected migratory seabirds were discovered near Esperance.

“As previously reported, there were 58 reports made to the emergency animal disease hotline over the weekend,” she said.

“Yesterday, on Monday, the 22nd of June, there were 36 reports to the animal emergency disease hotline.”

Despite the spike in reports, only two of Monday’s cases were deemed of significant enough concern to warrant laboratory testing for the H5N1 strain.

“These samples include from two wild sea birds, a cormorant in the Perth metropolitan area, and a giant petrel in Geraldton,” she said.

Ms Jarvis remained calm about the discovery, suggesting it is common to find dead birds along the coast in winter.

“I’m advised it’s not unusual for these type of sea birds, these migratory birds to be found along the West Australian coast, particularly this time of year, when weather events can blow them off course,” she said.

“And so it is not a concern that these birds were found, I guess, because of the species, the migratory nature of these birds. That’s why it was determined that there should be tests.“

The latest samples bring the number of pending H5N1 test results across Western Australia to 11 as authorities race to determine whether the virus has spread.

“Preliminary results from all samples will be made public when available,” Ms Jarvis said.

“There is no evidence the virus has spread, but we have asked the community to remain alert and follow advice about reporting sick or dead birds or marine mammals.”

She said there’s no need to panic buy, and that lockdowns limiting public access to egg and poultry farms are a precaution only.

“There has been no interruption to production. I would not expect there to be interruption of production,” Ms Jarvis said.

“The poultry industry is well prepared for this. In other jurisdictions overseas, this disease was not detected until it got into commercial flocks.

“We have the advantage of two years preparation. Egg farmers are well versed in what they need to do. I wouldn’t expect that we would see shortages like they saw in other countries.”