Bird flu in Antarctica? German research team finds 52 dead birds

Jena. According to a Jena research team, avian influenza is likely spreading in Antarctica. The H5N1 avian influenza virus was detected for the first time on King George Island, near the north coast of the Antarctic mainland, said Christina Braun from the Institute of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The virus was first detected in the Antarctic region in October 2023.

During a research trip at the beginning of the year, 52 dead animals were found, Braun added. Not all of them had been tested for H5N1, and results were still pending for some. However, there was a significant mortality rate. "Something is happening there," she said. It was mainly skuas, or predatory skuas, but southern giant petrels and Antarctic terns had also been found.

"It can be assumed that many more individuals are affected than have been found," said Braun's colleague Markus Bernhardt-Römermann. There are many scavengers in the region that quickly consume or drag away carcasses.

The consequences are extremely difficult to estimate. On the one hand, there is evidence of skuas that have already developed immunity. "But it could also be that it takes hold and a population locally dies out." Penguin populations, for example, are at risk, as they typically huddle close together to protect themselves from the cold. Like the human flu, the infection is transmitted through saliva.

In general, birds in Antarctica breed in a relatively limited area, the researchers continue. Only about two percent of the area is ice-free. Many birds are migratory birds that overwinter in the north. "We also assume that the largest mortality events will occur along the South American coast," Bernhardt-Römermann continued. Birds are more likely to come into contact with the virus in the north than in Antarctica itself.

RND/dpa