GAINESVILLE, Ga. — In February, Reuters reported scientists found a deadly case of a kind of avian influenza on the continent of Antarctica that might trigger hurt to the penguin populations.
Spain’s Increased Council for Scientific Investigation (CSIC) stated, “This discovery demonstrates for the primary time that the extremely pathogenic avian influenza virus has reached Antarctica regardless of the space and pure obstacles that separate it from different continents.”
CSIC famous that the virus was discovered by way of samples of useless skua sea birds that have been found by Argentine scientists close to the scientific station of Primavera.
“Evaluation has conclusively proven that the birds have been contaminated with the H5 subtype of avian influenza and a minimum of one of many useless birds contained the extremely pathogenic avian influenza virus,” CSIC famous within the report.
Reuters added that Fabiola Leon from the Pontifical Catholic College of Chile participated in an expedition from late 2023 to early 2024. Her activity was to look at the chook flu in Antarctica.
“We’re speaking a few very worrying danger,” Leon stated within the report. “There are species at risk of extinction, comparable to emperor penguins and different birds.”
The organizer of the expedition, the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH), stated they discovered extra instances of chook flu. Early in March, the group said they hit a “landmark” because of the truth the virus had unfold to penguins.
Because the pressure of chook flu wreaks havoc in Antarctica, one other pressure is sending alarms bells to South American nations in keeping with Reuters. H5N1 was first seen in South America in 2022.
After interviewing eight scientists, they stated the specter of H5N1 spreading to people is changing into higher. The virus was present in solely in chook species, nonetheless, the pressure has affected mammals in Chile and Peru.
The virus has killed dolphins, roughly 50,000 seals and sea lions and 500,000 birds. Mammal to mammal transmission can solely be examined with dwell animals so it’s unclear how the virus is being transmitted.
Richard Webby, a virologist at St. Jude’s Kids’s Analysis Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., stated, “It’s virtually actually occurred. It’s fairly arduous to elucidate a few of these giant infections and die off with out having mammal-to-mammal unfold.”
The scientists interviewed said that the virus has proven up in migrating birds and will impression locations apart from South America.
