A petrel found washed up on a coastal island by wildlife rangers has been confirmed positive for the deadly H5 bird flu strain.

It’s discovery, 75 minutes north by ferry from Brisbane on Moreton Island, is a Queensland first.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza has now been detected in four states after being found in Western Australia, South Australia and NSW.

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Only Victoria remains the only state that is bird flu free.

In all there have been 17 confirmed detections since the disease was first reported in WA on June 20.

The latest discovery prompted warnings in Queensland on Friday that the virus could have catastrophic consequences for native wildlife and push vulnerable species closer to extinction.

Poultry farmers are also battening down the hatches as the virus spreads.

However Department of Primary Industry officials said on Saturday there remained no detections in poultry and nor was there evidence of large-scale deaths in any animals in the state.

The risk to human health remains low.

Bird flu detected in Queensland for the first time after dead seabird found Credit: 7NEWS

Queensland Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Allison Crook said the confirmed case had been expected.

“We have known that a H5 bird flu detection in Queensland was a matter of when, not if,” she said.

“We have further escalated our surveillance program ... and are delivering heightened H5 bird flu awareness and engagement activities.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said on Friday the Commonwealth was chiming in with the poultry industry in a bid to keep the “very virulent” and “highly contagious” strain at bay.

“We’ve had two outbreaks of the H7 bird flu virus in Australia in the last five years or so, and we’ve been able to successfully eradicate those by working with industry and governments, state and federal,” she noted.

That aside, Invasive Species Council policy director Dr Carol Booth told AAP bird flu spread should alarm anyone who cared about native animals.

Australia’s wildlife was already under intense pressure and H5 bird flu could “tip quite a lot of them much closer to extinction”, she said.