The antarctica penguins

Almost a year ago, towards the end of the Southern Summer, the Antarctic Expedition team of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) He detected the arrival From the highly pathogenic avian flu virus (H5N1) to Antarctic fauna. On that occasion the detection was in marine mammals but They would soon arrive The news of the detection of the pathogen in the penguin populations of the region.

An expanding virus. Now the same, the CSIC-UNESPA expedition has confirmed The expansion of the virus in the most remote continent in the world: all animal species analyzed In the Weddell Sea surroundings they showed the presence of highly pathogenic avian flu virus (HPAI).

As the team explains, the analyzes left 42 positive tests. 28 corresponded to corpses of species such as Crab, Skuas (Paxos), Gaviota, Antarctic Paloma, Adelia Pingüino and Papua Penguin; While the remaining 14 positives were obtained from analysis to living specimens from skuas, and Adelia and Papua penguins.

Antonio Alcamí, who led the expedition, pointed in a press release That the viral load detected in the bodies was “very high, which indicates a risk of exposure to virus in the proximity of the bodies.”

Contrasting new technologies. The team used various methodologies in its analysis, some of them, innovations that could help in the detection of outbreaks in very different contexts. This is the case of air sampling.

This methodology was applied in penguin colonies and consists of the installation of a pump connected to a nanofiber filter. Once the sampling is done, a laboratory performs a PCR test to determine if it has captured the virus.

According to Explain Alcamíthe results obtained have allowed to validate this air sampling test as a virus detection method. Its use could allow virus detection without manipulating animals.

A year later. The analyzes have allowed the team to conclude that the infection can be extended in the colonies of penguins without causing great mortality that of the presence of its presence. This raises an additional issue: if the penguins are more resistant to the virus than we believed or if this resistance is the result of the immunity of the specimens that were exposed to the virus last year.

The arrival of the virus to Antarctica was a matter of time. In 2022 the arrival of the HPAI virus to South America was confirmed, so the first detections in mammals and birds in the icy continent was not entirely surprising. The new data now allow us to know better the magnitude of a problem that affects both wild birds and the farms of poultry and that has already extended to other areas of the livestock industry such as that of the milk production.

From the Australis sailboat. The CSIC-UNESPA scientific expedition departed in January aboard the sailboat Australis towards the southernmost continent of the earth. The expedition, led by the CSIC and financed by a group of insurers attached to the Business Association of the sector, Unespa, aims Weddell.

In Xataka | Outdoor -raised chickens are over: the government has made a temporary and radical decision by the flu

Image | Australis sailboat in Antarctica. Antonio Alcamí (CBMSO)