This story initially appeared in The Guardian and is a part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Avian flu has reached the Antarctic, elevating issues for remoted populations of penguins and seals which have by no means been uncovered to the lethal H5N1 virus earlier than. The full affect of the virus’s arrival shouldn’t be but recognized, however scientists are elevating issues about attainable “catastrophic breeding failure” of the area’s fragile wildlife populations.

The virus was present in populations of a scavenging fowl referred to as brown skua on Bird Island, which is a part of the British abroad territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. These migratory birds in all probability introduced it with them from South America the place fowl flu is widespread and has already killed an estimated 500,000 seabirds and 20,000 sea lions in Chile and Peru alone.

The present outbreak of the extremely infectious variant of H5N1—which began in 2021—is estimated to have killed thousands and thousands of untamed birds. Researchers have lengthy been involved about its potential affect on Antarctic wildlife, as a result of many species are discovered nowhere else on the earth, and usually are not recognized to have been uncovered to fowl flu viruses earlier than.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) took swabs of the birds after they discovered unexplained mortality and despatched them for testing within the United Kingdom.

Ashley Bennison, the BAS science supervisor for Bird Island, mentioned: “This is a particularly sad event to confirm. We will continue to monitor the species on the island as best as we can and keep the science going, but we are unsure of the full impact at the moment.”

Bird Island is taken into account one of many planet’s richest wildlife sites, house to many endangered fowl species in addition to 50,000 pairs of breeding penguins and 65,000 pairs of fur seals. The island lies simply off the northwest tip of South Georgia, about 600 miles south-east of the Falkland Islands.

A risk assessment on the impacts of fowl flu reaching the continent, printed by Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, mentioned fur seals, sea lions, skuas and gulls have been probably the most in danger, adopted by penguins, birds of prey, sheathbills and large petrels.

Dr. Meagan Dewar, the chair of the Antarctic Wildlife Health Network—who was the lead writer of the report—mentioned that the illness may lead to “catastrophic breeding failure” within the area, with a “devastating impact on many wildlife species.”

The report states that “ongoing disease surveillance programmes should be established to identify new and emerging pathogens.”

H5N1 unfold virtually 4,000 miles down South America within the house of three months, facilitated by migration routes of untamed birds. The truth it had already unfold down South America made it possible it will arrive in South Georgia in some unspecified time in the future, researchers say.

As a results of the optimistic exams on Bird Island, most area work that includes animal dealing with has been suspended. Staff must be additional vigilant about guaranteeing they’ve clear clothes and area gear.

The information follows current analysis that confirmed some seabirds within the UK—the place the outbreak was first reported—are beginning to show immunity to H5N1.