A deadly type of bird flu has been discovered in Antarctica, an important breeding area for many birds. British specialists made the discovery after investigating the strange deaths of skuas, a type of scavenging bird, on Bird Island in South Georgia, a British overseas territory east of South America’s tip and north of Antarctica’s main landmass. The samples of the birds were flown to the UK and tested positive on October 23, according to The Telegraph. The virus was most likely transported back by birds on their way to South America.
It is an avian flu subtype that has been spreading over the world. The first outbreak of H5N1 avian flu in humans occurred in 1997 in Hong Kong, according to the US government’s National Library of Medicine. According to Nature, the current outbreak is the result of a lethal strain of the H5N1 virus. The strain first appeared in Europe in 2020 and has quickly expanded to a number of countries, notably South America, where there have been numerous bird flu cases. Because of its high mortality rate in poultry, H5N1 has been designated as a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus. Outbreaks are typically seasonal, however, they have grown persistent since 2021. The virus killed millions of birds across five countries in 2022.
The H5N1 substrain may be able to swap genetic material with the seasonal flu virus
The H5N1 virus is difficult to spread from animals to humans, according to scientists at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other specialists. It is significantly more difficult for the virus to spread from person to person. However, if a person with flu gets this bird flu, the H5N1 substrain may be able to swap genetic material with the seasonal flu virus. A variant of bird flu virus that becomes more capable of spreading among humans could have devastating repercussions. The discovery of the avian flu virus in Antarctica has frightened scientists all around the world. South Georgia, where the skuas were discovered dead, is also home to various albatross species, macaroni and gentoo penguins, and northern and southern skuas.
Experts fear these birds could also be hit by the disease, which is transmitted mostly through faeces or direct contact. “Mortality is growing. It’s really worrying. Bird Island is one of the most exceptional habitats – the variety and density of birds are astonishing – so it’s very concerning that it has arrived in such an important location,” Dr Norman Ratcliffe, a seabird ecologist with the British Antarctic Survey, told The Telegraph. “Some colonies of these birds are very dense, and when it takes hold it can spread quickly,” the expert added.
Antarctica has never had an outbreak of bird flu before so the immunity of its residents is very low. “The populations are completely naive,” Dr Thijs Kuiken, a veterinary pathologist at Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, told The New York Times (NYT). “The worry is that the first time that it goes through, it will really have a high impact in terms of rate of mortality.”