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extremely morbific avian influenza ( HPAI ) , a peculiarly lethal soma of bird flu , has been detected in dame inAntarcticafor the first time .
Researchers with the British Antarctic Survey ( BAS ) made the discovery after investigating reports of illness and unexplained death among seabirds on Bird Island , an island in the South Atlantic off the northwesterly tip of South Georgia that houses aba inquiry station . To find out what was sickening the animals , the researchers took clinical sample from the birds there and sent these off for analysis . Swabs from brown skuas ( Stercorarius antarcticus ) revealed the animal had a type of bird flu called HPAI H5N1 , according to astatementreleased Monday ( Oct. 23 ) .
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in brown skua populations on Bird Island.
" Whilst the source of the disease on Bird Island is not certain , it is probable that it was introduced via skua come back from their migration in Argentina where there are known to be a high number of subject , " the BAS statement mention . An on-going H5N1 outbreak that began in 2022 has killed seabirds around the world , and the contagion has also spilled over to mammals , the statement total .
H5N1 principally infects domestic chick , including poulet and turkeys , and various unwarranted razz , such as ducks and geese . In 2022 , it drovedevastating eruption on U.S. bird farm . It sometimes infect mammals , includingcats , mink coat , foxes , seals and ocean lions , according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC ) . On rarified occasions , people can take in H5N1 , the CDC considers it a humble peril to public wellness because it ’s never been see to spread between multitude .
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A number of brown skuas have caught H5N1, raising concerns that the infection could continue to spread among the birds and then on to additional animals.
The young cases of H5N1 detected among Bird Island bonxie upgrade vexation for local wildlife .
" There are species on some of the Antarctic islands and sub - Antarctic islands that are unparalleled to those islands , and only occur in belittled phone number , in hundreds or thousands,“Thijs Kuiken , a veterinary pathologist at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam in the Netherlands , order New Scientist . " If the virus reaches those population , they are in threat of quenching . "
wearisome - spawn birds such aspenguinsand albatrosses could also face major losses , he note . If , say , 50 % to 70 % of a breeding colony dies off , " it will take years , if not decades , for these population to return to their previous levels , " he order .
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In August , Kuiken and other avian flu expertswarned that H5N1 would in all probability soon spreadto the Antarctic realm from South America , and now their forecasting has seemingly come true . Because the region has never see an outbreak of highly morbific bird flu , scientists venerate the isolated wildlife there may be hit particularly hard , The New York Timesreported in August . ( Other types of bird fluhave sicken bird in Antarcticabefore , but not HPAI . )
So far , at least 30 wench on Bird Island have been kill by H5N1 , BAS staff told New Scientist .
