In Alaska, a polar bear has been found to have died for the first time after becoming infected with the bird flu virus.
The cause of the polar bear’s death was determined in December by the Department of Environmental Conservation in the US state of Alaska. The carcass was found two months earlier near Utqiagvik, one of the northernmost villages in the state. The tissue showed that the animal was infected with H5N1, the highly contagious variant of bird flu, which is also dangerous to humans.
“This is the first case in the world of a polar bear dying from bird flu,” Bob Gerlach, the state veterinarian in charge, told the local news outlet. Alaska Beacon . The animal probably ate carcasses of infected birds. Gerlach is not surprised by the finding, as a black and brown bear have previously succumbed to the virus in Alaska. He emphasizes that it is also possible that more polar bears have already died, but that this is rarely noticed because they live in remote places.
Biodiversity under heavy pressure
The fact that the virus has now also been identified in mammals in the Arctic “is terrifying,” says Diana Bell, professor emeritus of Biology at the British University of East Anglia. The Guardian . But she is not surprised either. “The list of mammals killed by bird flu has grown enormously in recent years. It is no longer a disease that only kills poultry. I hope people will now pay attention to it: biodiversity is already under severe pressure worldwide, and now this disease has been added to the mix.”
Scientists have been warning for some time about the H5N1 virus, which is considered highly contagious and pathogenic. The virus has been circulating since 2021. Since then, millions of birds worldwide have died from the variant.
Mammals can become infected with the highly pathogenic bird flu H5N1 virus if they eat infected, sick or dead wild birds. Research by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research showed a year ago that there is no spread of the virus between mammals. However, mutations were found that indicated that the virus adapts to a new host. But that change was not enough for the virus to spread between mammals, including to humans. People can become infected if they work a lot with birds, for example chickens.
Antarctica
The virus is also advancing on the other side of the world. After findings in the southern Argentine province of Chubut and on the Falkland Islands, hundreds of dead elephant seals in and around the South Georgia archipelago – near the Antarctic region – are also said to have been felled by the same virus, although this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Scientists fear the worst for Antarctica’s unique biodiversity if the rise of bird flu continues. If the virus were to strike the penguin colonies, it would likely lead to millions of casualties.