Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in brown skua populations on Bird Island, South Georgia – the first known cases in the Antarctic region.
Following reports of several potentially symptomatic birds and unexplained mortality, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) staff on Bird Island took samples for testing. The swabs were returned to the UK and tested by the Animal and Plant Health Agency laboratories in Weybridge, where they returned positive results for HPAI H5N1.
Natural pathways are the primary means of spread of HPAI and it is likely that the spread of the disease was caused by the return of birds from their migration to South America, where there are a high number of HPAI cases. BAS and Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) remain vigilant for further cases and science and visitor programmes are currently continuing under enhanced biosecurity measures.
read more www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/first-confirmed-cases-of-avian-influenza-in-the-antarctic-region/
