"PARIS - Bird flu is likely to spread further in the Antarctic region, causing immense damage to wildlife, according to experts on the highly contagious disease that has killed hundreds of millions of birds worldwide in recent years.

The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly called bird flu, to the remote southern region has raised concerns for isolated populations of species including penguins and seals that have never been exposed to the virus.

The H5 strain of the virus was detected in the region on Oct. 8 in a brown skua on Bird Island, part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, according to a report by OFFLU, which gathers experts from the World Organisation of Animal Health (WOAH) and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Around the same time, the virus was detected in fulmars and albatrosses in the nearby Falkland Islands."

Sybille De La Hamaide reports for Reuters December 21, 2023. [2]