The alarming detection of the H5 strain of bird flu in Antarctica has sparked urgent concern for the continent’s diverse wildlife. OFFLU, an expert group from the World Organisation of Animal Health and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, reported the virus in a brown skua on Bird Island, part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. This strain has also been found in fulmars and albatrosses in the Falkland Islands, posing a grave threat to the 48 bird species and 26 marine mammals residing in Antarctica.
The dense populations of these animals create an environment conducive to rapid virus transmission, raising fears of high mortality rates. Elephant seals in South Georgia, potentially contracting the virus from South American counterparts, might spread it to neighboring islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Experts warn that without immediate action, this virus could infiltrate other Antarctic islands and reach Oceania, endangering the emperor penguin population already on the brink of extinction.
OFFLU calls for heightened wildlife monitoring, stringent biosafety measures, and human-mediated spread prevention to safeguard Antarctica’s vast ecosystem. The breadth of impact could extend beyond the Antarctic Treaty region, demanding swift and comprehensive action to protect Earth’s last frontiers from this global bird flu threat.
