Dr. Marco Falchieri/APHA/Handout/Reuters
In December 2023, scientists test dead seals for bird flu on South Georgia Island.
CNN
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An unprecedented outbreak of highly contagious bird flu in the sub-Antarctic has spread to mammals, British authorities said Thursday, as experts warn the disease poses a serious threat to the region’s fragile ecosystem. It was announced on .
It will take place after the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in October. Confirmed The first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the Antarctic region occurred in a black-skull gull on Bird Island, South Georgia, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic.
The disease was detected in elephants and fur seals in South Georgia, east of the tip of South America and just above the main landmass of Antarctica, the British Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said in a news release Thursday.
“Today, for the first time, the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was confirmed in sub-Antarctic mammals,” the report said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), avian influenza is caused by a naturally occurring infection among wild waterfowl. Infected birds can transmit the virus to other animals through saliva and other faeces.
BAS said in an October statement that analysis showed the virus was most likely brought to South Georgia through migratory bird movements from South America.
In December, APHA and BAS experts spent three weeks collecting samples from dead mammals and birds on the affected islands.
The samples taken from elephant seals, fur seals, skuas, kelp gulls and Antarctic terns tested positive for HPAI H5N1, APHA said.
Antarctica and its offshore islands are home to more than 100 million breeding birds, six species of seals and 17 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises, according to the global avian influenza expert network OFFLU. ” regional.
APHA Director of Scientific Services Ian Brown said: “Given that Antarctica is such a unique and special biodiversity hotspot, the spread of this disease to mammals in this region is sad and alarming. That’s true.”
“If avian influenza continues to spread across the subantarctic region, it could seriously threaten fragile ecosystems and put large numbers of seabirds and marine mammals at risk.”
Samples taken from Bird Island’s albatross and shearwater colonies tested negative, APHA said. “To date, no above-average mortality rates have been reported for any penguin species,” the report added.
BAS, which operates two research stations in South Georgia, said it had suspended “most field work involving contact with animals” out of caution.
Several countries experienced record outbreaks of bird flu in their lowest year. in Japannearly 10 million birds were killed to limit the spread of the disease, straining poultry supplies and raising egg prices.