Bird flu reaches Antarctica for the first time: Why this could be devastating?

As the region prepares for the arrival of avian flu, experts worry that thousands of penguins and seals could be wiped out throughout Antarctica. A deadly variant of bird flu known as avian flu has been found in the fifth-largest continent. British scientists who were examining the mysterious deaths of brown skuas, a scavenger bird, on Bird Island, a part of the British overseas possession of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, uncovered the reason. The samples of the birds were transferred to the UK and returned on 23 October with a positive result, according to The Telegraph. Birds migrating back from South America, where bird flu is common and has already claimed the lives of an estimated 500,000 seabirds and 20,000 sea lions in Chile and Peru alone, are most likely the source of the infection. What is H5N1 strain? H5N1, the avian flu subtype has been circulating all across the world. The first human H5N1 avian flu outbreak occurred in 1997 in Hong Kong, according to the National Library of Medicine of the US government. A fatal variant of the H5N1 sub-type is to blame for the current pandemic, said Nature magazine. In 2020, the strain first appeared in Europe. Since then, it has quickly spread to several countries like South America. Due of the enormous number of deaths it causes in poultry, H5N1 is known as a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus. Bird flu outbreaks are seasonal, however, they have been persistent since 2021, as per NDTV. Millions of birds died in 2022 as a result of the illness, according to Nature. The H5N1 virus is difficult to spread from animals to humans, as per US-based Centres for Disease Control (CDC). Even more difficult is for the virus to spread from one person to another. However, there are worries that if a person with the flu contracts this bird flu, the H5N1 sub-strain may be able to interchange genetic material with the seasonal flu virus. Thus, there can be serious repercussions as a result. Experts have long been concerned about its possible effects on Antarctica;s ecosystem due to the fact that many species are found only in the region and have never been known to be exposed to bird flu viruses. What are the researchers saying? According to The Guardian, when they discovered an unexplained mortality, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) researchers collected swabs from the birds and sent them to the UK for examination. Ashley Bennison, the BAS science manager for Bird Island, told the outlet, “This is a particularly sad event to confirm. We will continue to monitor the species on the island as best as we can and keep the science going, but we are unsure of the full impact at the moment.” Bird Island, one of the world’s richest biodiversity places, is home to the endangered bird species, 50,000 breeding pairs of penguins, and 65,000 pairs of fur seals. It is located about 600 miles south-east of the Falkland Islands, just off the north-western tip of South Georgia, the report said. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research’s risk assessment of the effects of bird flu spreading to the continent found that penguins, birds of prey, sheathbills, and giant petrels are most at risk, followed by fur seals, sea lions, skuas, and gulls. Why the experts are concerned? Dr Meagan Dewar, the chair of the Antarctic Wildlife Health Network, who was the lead author of the report, said that the disease could result in “catastrophic breeding failure” in the region, with a “devastating impact on many wildlife species.” The report states that “ongoing disease surveillance programmes should be established to identify new and emerging pathogens.” Moreover, there are various kinds of albatross, macaroni and Gentoo penguins, as well as northern and southern giant petrels, at South Georgia, where the dead skuas were discovered. Experts worry that these birds may also contract the virus, which is primarily spread through direct touch or faeces, NDTV reported. Dr Norman Ratcliffe, a seabird ecologist with the British Antarctic Survey, told The Telegraph, “Mortality is growing. It’s really worrying. Bird Island is one of the most exceptional habitats - the variety and density of birds is astonishing - so it’s very concerning that it has arrived in such an important location. Some colonies of these birds are very dense, and when it takes hold it can spread quickly.” Because there has never been a bird flu outbreak in Antarctica, the population’s immunity is quite poor, according to Dr Thijs Kuiken, a veterinary pathologist at Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. “The populations are completely naive. The worry is that the first time that it goes through, it will really have a high impact in terms of rate of mortality,” he told The New York Times. With inputs from agencies