WHAT WAS CLAIMED
No little penguin has been found to be infected with bird flu.
OUR VERDICT
False. The first case of bird flu in a little penguin was confirmed on August 15, 2026.
AAP FACTCHECK - A program to vaccinate Philip Island's little penguins against bird flu is sparking false claims online that not a single bird in the colony has yet been infected with the virus.
However, authorities announced on August 15 that a bird from the colony had tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza.
The claim was made in an August 17 Facebook post that attempted to cast the bird vaccination program as an over-reaction.
"Madness. Vaccine fanaticism on steroids. Not a single little penguin has been found to have 'bird flu'," the post reads.
"These fools will cause more harm to the little penguins by chasing them, capturing them, holding them and injecting them — not once but twice."
The Facebook post was a direct copy of a false claim former Liberal MP Craig Kelly made in an X post shortly after 8pm AEDT on August 15.
However, Agriculture Victoria had already confirmed in an August 15 media release that the carcass of a Phillip Island little penguin had tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
The little penguin was one of three new H5 bird flu detections found in wild birds in Victoria, the media release said.
Multiple news stories reported the bird flu detection the day it was announced, including an ABC News story published at 4.20pm AEDT - almost four hours before Mr Kelly's X post.
Vaccination of Phillip Island's little penguins began on August 17, ABC News reported.
The Facebook post and Mr Kelly's X post included a clip from a 7News broadcast in which a reporter said there had been no detections of the virus in little penguins.
However, the report aired on August 12, which was three days before authorities announced the first positive detection in a little penguin (timestamp eight minutes three seconds).
7News subsequently reported the positive detection in multiple news stories, including on August 15 and August 17.
Phillip Island is home to the world's largest colony of little penguins, with around 40,000 penguins residing on the island.
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