(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024
By Adam Jourdan
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – A lethal kind of chicken flu has been confirmed on the mainland of Antarctica for the primary time, scientists stated, a possible danger for the southern area’s large penguin colonies.
“This discovery demonstrates for the first time that the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus has reached Antarctica despite the distance and natural barriers that separate it from other continents,” Spain’s Higher Council for Scientific Investigation (CSIC) stated on Sunday.
The presence of the virus was confirmed on Feb. 24 in samples of lifeless skua seabirds, which have been discovered by Argentine scientists close to the Antarctic base Primavera, CSIC added.
The confirmed case on the Antarctic peninsula, coming after instances on islands close by, together with amongst gentoo penguins, highlights the danger to colonies within the area to the H5N1 avian flu that has decimated chicken populations all over the world in recent months.
“Analysis has conclusively shown that the birds were infected with the H5 subtype of avian influenza and at least one of the dead birds contained the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus,” CSIC stated in a press release.
Hundreds of 1000’s of penguins collect in tightly packed colonies on the Antarctic continent and close by islands, which may allow the lethal virus to simply unfold.
Data from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research additionally confirmed a now confirmed case on the analysis base.
(This story has been corrected to make clear that CSIC is Spanish, not Argentine)
(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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