Agriculture Minister Julie Collins told reporters in Canberra that testing had confirmed H5N1 bird flu in a group of 49 dead and 35 sick terns discovered by helicopter surveillance on rocks off Cape Jaffa, located roughly 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, from Adelaide, following the survey conducted Friday. "This is the first confirmed case of a mass mortality," Collins said. She warned that additional wildlife losses should now be expected as the virus continues moving through Australia's bird populations. "Once the H5 bird flu is spreading in wildlife and the natural environment, it is not possible to avoid significant losses, which is what we're starting to see now." Despite the confirmed mass mortality event among wild seabirds, Collins said there remains no evidence of the virus having reached Australia's commercial farms.