Experts on the highly contagious bird flu warn of its likely expansion in the Antarctic region, posing a significant threat to wildlife.
The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly known as bird flu, in this remote southern area, is causing concerns for isolated populations of species like penguins and seals, which have never encountered the virus before.
This disease has already claimed the lives of hundreds of millions of birds globally in recent years.
On October 8, the H5 strain of the virus was identified in the region when a brown skua on Bird Island, part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, tested positive.
This information comes from a report by OFFLU, a collaboration of experts from the World Organisation of Animal Health (WOAH) and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Simultaneously, the virus was also identified in fulmars and albatrosses in the neighboring Falkland Islands.
“HPAI H5 virus is likely to spread further among Antarctic wildlife, potentially infecting the 48 species of birds and 26 species of marine mammals which inhabit this region,” the OFFLU said in its report on Thursday.
“The negative impact of HPAI H5 on Antarctic wildlife could be immense, because their presence in dense colonies of up to thousands of pinnipeds (seals) and hundreds of thousands of birds facilitates virus transmission and may result in high mortality,” it added.
OFFLU employs the biogeographical definition of the Antarctic region, which is determined by the distribution of species and ecosystems.
This definition encompasses a broader scope than the Antarctic Treaty region, incorporating all ice shelves.
