Ben WallisDead hunters found on Beak Island
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 20:23
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Francien Intema
Domestic editor
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Francien Intema
Domestic editor
Scientists have identified further spread of the bird flu virus in Antarctica and are concerned about the development of the virus. An international team of researchers visited ten locations on the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands in the Northern Weddell Sea in the second half of March. They found thousands of dead birds and in four places they found dead birds with bird flu.
“So I did not expect that we would find the virus so quickly in so many locations,” says veterinary pathologist Lineke Begeman, who took part in the expedition and is now back at Erasmus MC. “I thought we were looking for a needle in a haystack; the area is very large and there are many animal species. The locations we visited are just pinpricks in a vast landscape.”
Carnivorous birds
Begeman and her colleagues found the virus in so-called hunters; carnivorous seabirds. On Beak Island, for example, they peed eighty live and about fifty dead hunters. The ten dead specimens they examined all tested positive for bird flu.
The fact that hunters in particular turned out to be infected raises the question of whether other species have also been affected, says Begeman. Hunters eat carcasses and it is known that birds of prey, for example, can contract bird flu if they eat animals infected with the virus.
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Alice Reade
The research vessel Australis
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Ben Wallis
Researchers prepare to sample birds
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Anne Gunther
Hunter found dead
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Ralph van Streels
Researchers sample a dead hunter
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Ralph van Streels
Researchers sample Adelie penguins
To find out whether the virus is indeed circulating under the radar, the researchers also collected feces from birds and mammals that appeared healthy, such as gentoo penguins, fur seals, Antarctic chickens and Adélie penguins. In the coming months, the laboratory will have to determine whether there is bird flu virus in the fecal samples.
The Adelie penguin is extra suspicious. On one island, the researchers counted 532 dead Adélie penguins and estimated that they saw several thousand dead specimens during their expedition. But they did not find the virus in the carcasses.
“They were already in an advanced state of decomposition, so we will use extra sensitive techniques in the lab to see whether any virus can be found in them,” says Begeman. “At the same time, we are looking at other possible causes of death.”
Pedigree
The genetic material of the viruses that returned in all the cotton swabs and pieces of tissue also contains valuable information. Every time a virus replicates, the genetic code changes slightly. This allows scientists to create a family tree of the viruses they collected in Antarctica.
“With that family tree we can see whether the virus ended up at the South Pole once or was introduced several times,” says Begeman. “For example, if we see four or five introductions, it becomes more likely that the virus is also present elsewhere in Antarctica and has already spread further across the continent.”
To assure
Experts are very concerned about the situation in Antarctica, partly because the virus has killed several hundred thousand animals in South America. At the end of February it was announced that the virus had reached the Antarctic mainland. All kinds of marine mammals live on the continent and many millions of birds breed there.
Begeman is affected by the expedition. “I find it heartbreaking to see wild animals dying in a place that is so untouched and where we have agreed to have as little influence as possible. Animals are now dying there from a virus that originated in poultry farming.”
Although the virus cannot be stopped, Begeman does see a perspective for action. “If we have a better understanding of which species are affected, we can work to reduce disruptive impacts on the habitats we control.”
The bird flu virus that is now spreading around the world mainly affects birds. It can also make mammals sick, including humans. As far as is known, the virus cannot easily be transmitted from person to person.
Things are now relatively quiet in the Netherlands when it comes to bird flu. The cage requirement for poultry was largely withdrawn at the end of March and the last infection occurred at a company December 2 last year place. Hardly any bird flu has been found in wild birds in recent weeks, outgoing minister Dijkstra wrote last week.
2024-04-10 18:23:15
#Scientists #spread #bird #flu #Antarctica
