First penguin deaths in sub-Antarctic region attributed to bird flu strain

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

Weeks after scientists suspected and confirmed deaths of elephant and fur seals due to bird flu (H5N1) in the British Overseas Territory (BOT) of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands near Antarctica, there are now reports of at least three penguin deaths from the region.

Details:

Penguin species: King penguin, and Gentoo penguin.
Places: South Sandwich Island, Falklands, and South Georgia.
About 98 per cent of the global population of fur seals was found in South Georgia. The region hosted “globally important populations of elephant and fur seals”.
A risk assessment conducted by researchers warned about the virus ripping across densely populated colonies of penguins by the austral (southern) spring that may lead to “one of the largest ecological disasters of modern times”.
So far, no suspected or confirmed case of infection has been reported from mainland Antarctica.

Avian Influenza:

It is a highly contagious viral disease which has swept populations of birds and mammals across the world.
Since 2021, its variant known as HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has been dominated and caused outbreaks, leading to the deaths of millions of birds in the United Kingdom, South America, Europe and South Africa.
In October 2023,bird flu arrived in the sub-Antarctic region after travelling from South America through sea birds.
- It infected elephants and fur seals, brown skua, penguins, pelicans, sea lions and kelp gulls among others, resulting in mass infection and mortality.
In December 2023, the first death of a polar bear due to avian flu was reported from the Arctic.

Source: DTE