Bird flu caused the mass death of subantarctic seals – scientists
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Virologists have confirmed bird flu infection in elephants and fur seals in the sub-Antarctic region. The H5N1 virus is highly contagious and continues to spread around the world.
The first known cases of H5N1 were detected in the Antarctic region in October among brown terns on Byrd Island, off South Georgia, the Guardian writes. Two months later, hundreds of elephant seals were found dead. In several other locations, the number of deaths of fur seals, sea gulls and terns also increased.
In December, a polar bear was confirmed dead from bird flu in Alaska, and about 20,000 sea lions died from this virus in Chile and Peru.
According to Mark Falchieri, a scientist from the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency, a team collecting samples for analysis found about 20 dead elephant seals.
| Photo: richardsjeremy/Depositphotos |
“It breaks my heart to see so many dead seals,” – he noted.
Other seals also showed respiratory signs of bird flu: coughing, sneezing, discharge from the eyes, nose, slow shaking of the head and tremors.
Mark Falchieri claims that the number of dead animals probably reached 100 individuals: mainly elephant seals – they suffered more than fur seals.
“My worst fear is the adaptive mutation of the virus and its adaptation to mammals, which we don’t see in these new samples, but we need to continue monitoring.” – he said, adding that this increases the risk for people.
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| Photo: prochazka.foto/Depositphotos |
The spread of the virus to animals became possible due to the fact that too many birds fell ill with this flu. Mammals come into close contact with their feces and eat infected birds.
While the deaths of subantarctic seals and birds are worrying, the good news is that the virus has not spread to other species, says Ashley Bunyard, a virologist at the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency.
“Two years ago, we were worried that the penguins would get infected and die from the disease, but that didn’t happen, so it’s almost a positive result.” – she noted.
Currently, there is no way to determine the total number of dead seals, but scientists are convinced that it is much higher than it seems.
It will be recalled that fossils of ancient predatory worms were discovered in Greenland.
Read also: Ukrainian polar explorers discovered a sudden increase in the content of chlorophyll in the ocean: what does this indicate
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