WHAT WAS CLAIMED
The bird flu vaccine is an mRNA vaccine.
OUR VERDICT
False. It is a killed virus vaccine, not an mRNA vaccine.
AAP FACTCHECK - A vaccine being used to immunise vulnerable bird populations against bird flu is being falsely described on social media as an mRNA shot.
The immunisation program instead uses a killed-virus vaccine.
Australia reported its first case of the H5N1 bird flu strain in June 2026 in a migratory seabird found in Western Australia.
Since then, 341 confirmed cases have been reported in little penguins, seabirds and fur seals, according to government data up to August 26.
The false claim appeared online after an August 11 federal government announcement that a vaccine rollout would begin in vulnerable native bird populations.
"Bird Flu is another globalist scam, just like Covid," an August 16 Facebook post claims.
"Oh they'll show you pictures of dead birds, all just propaganda. How do I know?
"Because the H5 Bird Flu vaccine is mRna, genetic therapy, exactly like the dodgy Pfizer and Moderna Covid shots."
However, the vaccine being distributed is not mRNA.
Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Beth Cookson confirmed to AAP FactCheck that the claim is false.
"The vaccine being used for targeted emergency vaccination of eligible non-poultry species is the Zoetis H5N2-subtype killed-virus vaccine," Dr Cookson said in a statement.
"It is not an mRNA vaccine."
A government permit for the vaccine confirms it is a killed-virus vaccine (page 2).
This category of vaccine, also known as an inactivated vaccine, uses a dead version of a virus strain to elicit an immune response, but it cannot cause disease or replicate, according to the Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre.
mRNA vaccines work by giving your body instructions to produce a spike protein contained in a particular virus to invoke an immune response, according to Cleveland Clinic.
The body's immune system then recognises the protein as foreign and produces antibodies in response, which help protect against future infection.
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna produced mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
AAP FactCheck previously debunked claims that mRNA vaccines constituted "gene therapy". The claim is wrong because the mRNA never enters the nucleus of a cell and can't alter DNA.
Julie Old, a wildlife disease expert at Western Sydney University, also confirmed the vaccine being used against bird flu is not mRNA.
"It's a killed viral vaccine (also called an inactivated viral vaccine), not an mRNA vaccine," associate professor Old told AAP FactCheck.
AAP FactCheck previously debunked the claim that no little penguins had been infected with bird flu.
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