SYDNEY, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- A deadly strain of avian influenza may be spread by the food-stealing behavior of some seabirds, Australian scientists said in a study published on Tuesday.

The H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has killed millions of birds, as well as thousands of sea lions and elephant seals, since 2021 and has spread to every continent except Australia.

Researchers led by a team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney identified kleptoparasitism - a feeding strategy where some seabirds force others to regurgitate their prey and steal it - as a possible transmission path for the strain.

The researchers said if a bird targeted for food theft is infected, the regurgitated food could be coated in saliva with a high viral load, infecting the kleptoparasite, which in turn could infect others.

Simon Gorta, lead author of the study from UNSW Sydney's Centre for Ecosystem Science, warned that H5N1 could enter Australia via the pathway.

"Understanding transmission is critical to monitoring and management efforts, particularly when at-risk species or regions are involved, and it's helpful to understand threats to other animals and people," Gorta said in a media release.

"We have identified that migratory kleptoparasites, alongside predatory and scavenging species, could be some of the first species to become infected when H5N1 reaches Australia," he said.

Kleptoparasitism is a common behavior among seabirds, including frigatebirds and skuas which the researchers focused on.

Co-author Richard Kingsford from UNSW Sydney said seabirds are especially vulnerable to the H5N1 panzootic because of the way they densely group together during the breeding season.

The study also involved researchers at Deakin and Monash universities in Melbourne and BirdLife International, which is a global partnership of NGOs that aims to conserve birds and their habitats.

Experts have previously said an outbreak of H5N1 in Australia is inevitable.

Julie Collins, Australia's Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, early in September convened a meeting of biosecurity agencies, environmental authorities and industry groups to test the country's preparedness for, and response to, an outbreak of the strain with a focus on wild birds and marine mammals. Enditem

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