Bird flu is found in penguins near Antarctica – 01/30/2024 – Environment

A fatal strain of bird flu has been found in gentoo penguins for the first time, according to the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR), raising concerns that the virus could spread among Antarctica’s huge penguin colonies.

Researchers discovered around 35 dead penguins on the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic on January 19. Samples taken from two of the dead penguins tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus, said Ralph Vanstreels, a veterinarian working with the committee.

The Falkland Islands government told Reuters that many other gentoo penguins have died in similar circumstances. As of January 30, “around 200 puppies had been killed”, as well as several adults, said government spokeswoman Sally Heathman.

The death confirms that gentoo penguins are susceptible to the disease that has decimated avian populations around the world in recent months. However, gentoo penguins rarely travel between the Falklands, off the coast of Argentina, and the Antarctic peninsula, which is 1,300 km to the south.

That means traveling penguins are unlikely to carry the virus further south, said Vanstreels, a research affiliate at the University of California-Davis.

“The role that gentoo penguins may have, instead, is to serve as local reservoirs of infection,” he said. “That is, maintaining a pool of susceptible hosts that never leave the islands.”