Are we at the edge of another pandemic? H5N1

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On 27 June 2024, 9:49 A.M., I summarized the approach to survive a very deadly disease called H5N1 Avian Flu, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. I have covered a lot of information over the past several weeks on the next potential pandemic called H5N1. I have come to realize this pandemic will primarily be transmitted by insects, primarily Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes infect humans with a blood to blood transfer between infected to uninfected birds/animals/humans.

There’s a saying that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

H5N1 has spread across many types of birds dealing wave after wave of deaths. In the last few years, it has infected over 500 different species of birds, driving some to near extinction. This virus has established its presence in 108 countries, across five continents. It even transitioned to chickens. But it is on the move and has impacted many types of animals, most recently dairy cattle. It has spread to 70 mammal species globally. It is in our homes (cats and mice). It is on the move and another species is contracting this threat. It is beginning to show up in Pigs as a very deadly Swine Flu. -- Pigs are a "mixing vessels" for influenza viruses, specifically those infecting birds, humans, and other pigs. If H5N1 were to become endemic in U.S. pigs, then those viruses could undergo genetic reassortment, creating entirely novel strains, very deadly human strains.

This virus has been evolving over the past few years. It began with birds and spread to animals and humans. The disease is passing across a maze of viruses in recent years including H5N1, H5N2, H5N3, H5N5, H5N6, H5N8 and H5N9. But in my opinion the primary threat is H1N1.

H1N1 decimated the human population during the First World War. It went by many names including the Spanish Flu which killed between 50 and 100 million people during the period from 1918-1919. This plague went by many names. The Americans fell ill with "three-day fever" or "purple death." The French caught "purulent bronchitis." The Italians suffered "sand fly fever." German hospitals filled with victims of Blitzkatarrh or "Flanders fever. Sand fly fever is an arthropod-borne viral disease, also known as “Phlebotomus fever”, “mosquito fever”.

From 1918 to 1919, the Spanish flu infected an estimated 500 million people globally. This amounted to about 33% of the world's population at the time. In addition, the Spanish flu killed about 50 million people, about 6 percent of the Earth's population. Since the world population has grown around 5 times in the last 100 years. The threat might impact 2.5 billion people should it materialize today.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVpBFy_TRtA

How were the victims of H1N1 treated in front line hospitals during 1918/1919? No matter what they called it, the virus attacked everyone similarly. It started like any other influenza case, with a sore throat, chills and fever. Then came the deadly twist: the virus ravaged its victim's lungs. Sometimes within hours, patients succumbed to complete respiratory failure. Autopsies showed hard, red lungs drenched in fluid. A microscopic look at diseased lung tissue revealed that the alveoli, the lungs' normally air-filled cells, were so full of fluid that victims literally drowned. The slow suffocation began when patients presented with a unique symptom: mahogany spots over their cheekbones. Within hours these patients turned a bluish-black hue indicative of cyanosis, or lack of oxygen. When triaging scores of new patients, nurses often looked at the patients' feet first. Those with black feet were considered beyond help and were carted off to die.

In my humble opinion, these diseases are transmitted by insects. An insect bites an infected bird/animal/human and then transmitted the blood directly to another bird/ animal/human. The following is a good approach to limiting the spread in humans.

1. You can protect yourself from mosquito bites in two ways. If you spend a lot of time outdoors you can create protective clothing (boots, clothing and camping gear) that repel mosquitoes by treating them with Permethrin.

2. You can also protect yourself from mosquito bites by applying mosquito repellent on you skin. This will provide short protection (several hours) to drive away mosquitoes. There are a variety of products available. They include DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, Oil of lemon, Para-menthane-diol eucalyptus, and 2-Undecanone.

3. Another product that can help prevent mosquito bites is Metofluthrin. Metofluthrin is a pyrethroid used as an insect repellent. The vapors of metofluthrin are highly effective and capable of repelling up to 97% of mosquitoes in field tests. Metofluthrin is used in a variety of consumer products, called emanators, for indoor and outdoor use. These products produce a vapor that protects an individual or area. Effectiveness is reduced by air movement. Metofluthrin is neurotoxic, and is not meant to be applied directly to human skin.

4. Accidents can happen. What to do immediately after being bitten by a mosquito? Treat the bite with Tecnu Topical Analgesic Anti-Itch Spray (Diphenhydramine HCl 2%). There is another product that can diminish the effects of being bitten by an infected insect. It is called ChiggereX. This product contains 10% Benzocaine.

5. If you become infected with H5N1 treat the condition immediately using one of four FDA-approved antivirals for influenza: (1) Baloxavir (Xofluza), (2) Zanamivir (Relenza), (3) Peramivir (Rapivab). These are prescription drugs and will require a doctors prescription. Time is of the essence here. This condition will begin to destroy the human body and make it impossible to treat within a few days. Time is of the essence.

The latest research has shown that another drug called Oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu) is ineffective in treating this disease in recent cases in both humans and chickens.

6. Some people are very vulnerable to mosquito bites. These are people with open wounds. Just covering the wounded area with bandages will not protect you. Mosquitoes can smell your blood and you become a prime target. I suffered a small bleed and was attacked by around 50 mosquitoes in less then two hours outdoors. (Luckily I had protected myself with DEET before I went outside and as a result, NOT ONE MOSQUITO WAS ABLE TO BITE ME.) This may also be a problem for women who are going through their menstrual period.

7. Go on the offensive. Wage a war on mosquitoes. In general, mosquitoes live in a hot humid environment. They most commonly infest Ponds, Marshes, Swamps, and Other wetland habitats. So minimize their breeding grounds. Wage war on mosquitoes.

8. Use our friends. What, you didn't realize we have allies in our war on Mosquitoes? We have many friends. Some are birds like woodpeckers, some are other insects like dragonflies, some are fish like gambusia affinis.

9. Wastewater tracking of H5N1 can identify the specific regions in the U.S. where the outbreak is underway. One of these regions is San Francisco, California. This area could be Ground Zero of the outbreak. But we cannot monitor the threat because the funding for Wastewater tracking has been halted. But time has been wasted and H5N1 is on the move and Central Valley in California is in the epicenter.

10. Vaccinations may provide protection from a very deadly form of H5N1. A neutralizing antibody bnAb called MEDI8852, which was discovered and developed by Medimmune, now part of AstraZeneca. MEDI8852 targets a portion of a key flu protein that is less prone to change than other parts of the virus and thus is capable of conferring protection against a wide range of flu viruses. This vaccination was tested on Macaque, a species (with almost human qualities), and this vaccine provided a remarkable and measurable cure.

In the historic past, migrating birds were the long distance transport agents of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1. Seasonally they would move the infectious disease between the northern and southern hemispheres as the seasons changed from summer to winter. But now as humans have developed means of rapid transport, such as jet aircraft, the speed and distance this virus can spread is rapidly accelerated.

Two people, in Wyoming and Ohio, have been hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a routine flu update on Friday. The person from Wyoming is still in hospital, while the Ohio patient has been released, according to the report. Both patients experienced “respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms”, the report said, without detailing those symptoms.

An “older” woman from Platte county, Wyoming, was hospitalized in another state, according to a statement from the Wyoming department of health. She “has health conditions that can make people more vulnerable to illness”, the statement says. The woman was exposed to poultry in a backyard flock that tested positive for H5N1, the CDC report said, adding that she remained hospitalized at the time of the report.

A man in Mercer county, Ohio, was infected while depopulating, or killing, H5N1-positive poultry at a commercial facility, according to a statement from the Ohio department of health. The man has been discharged from the hospital “and is now recovering at home”, the CDC report said.

“This shows that H5N1 can be very severe and we should not assume that it will always be mild,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan.

The news comes amid one of the worst seasonal flu outbreaks in 15 years – raising the potential for the emergence of a more dangerous virus that combines bird flu and seasonal flu in a process called reassortment. “I am very worried about H5N1 in patients that are being treated in hospitals where there are also many seasonal flu patients because this creates opportunities for reassortment, which could potentially produce a pandemic-capable H5N1,” Rasmussen said.

Source: Two people in US hospitalized with bird flu, CDC reports

Dozens of dead birds found on Long Island beach believed to have died from avian flu

H5N1 Bird Flu is roaring through many species of birds, many species of animals, getting closer and closer to becoming a very deadly pandemic in humans. How do you stop this pandemic dead in its tracks?

There is another way. It is one step at a time. In other words, you need to stop the spread. Select a species of birds or animals and build a natural immunity within the species to allow it to survive and spread this immunity throughout that species.

So who is that done? This approach is known as Fighting Fire with Fire.

How do firefighters put out massive forest fires in California? They start fires. It is called a controlled burn. This allows them to make a fire line. They create a fire break so the flames have nowhere to go when the fire comes roaring down the hills.

Controlled burns are Regular prescribed burns reduce the buildup of dry vegetation, which acts as fuel for fires.



This approach is not only used to prevent forest fires but creating FIRE BREAKS are used by firefighters to control a massive wild fire.

So a similar approach can be used to stop the spread of a deadly H5N1 or H1N1 pandemic by applying the same principle of creating a fire break. In this case creating an immune resistant species, one species at a time. For example if you can create an immune resistant chicken and these chickens can produce offsprings who also share this resistance, you can stop a pandemic in chickens.

In other words, in a sealed environment, one can control the spread. But if it breaks through the protection line, then the entire herd can become infected. Almost the entire herd will die. But a few will live and produce a natural immunity. So perhaps destroying the entire herd is a mistake. Perhaps we need to grow the survivors and develop a species of survivors.



There is one other piece to this puzzle. H5N1 may be similar to COVID. I never got COVID. Even though it was all around me. Before the vaccine, I was up and about. I was everywhere going to movies, going to restaurants, going to stores. By the end of March 2020 I knew what steps I needed to take to live my life as close to normal. I knew how to protect myself. So I never got COVID, nor my wife nor most of my children their husbands and grandchildren. There is one other component to surviving. To get COVID one had to have around 50 active COVID cells in your body at any given point in time. When you were exposed to COVID your body would immediately begin to fight the infection. And unless you were overwhelmed you would build up a natural immunity. You just had to keep your body below the 50 active cells.

Now I do not know for sure, but H5N1 might operate in the same manner. Therefore if a chicken can be exposed but the exposure is limited, it may survive and create a natural immunity to the species. Thus a research lab may be able to produce immune chickens. And if they can accomplish this feat, then they can go on to building immune cats and immune dogs, and ................

I cannot stand oily products on my skin, and the smell of bug repellent like Off is overwhelming. Any suggestions on what I can use to prevent mosquito bites?




Will these help if they were infected with the Bird Flu, or just with the itchiness?



How would I know if I've been infected? Should I go to the doctor as soon as I notice flu-like symptoms and insist that I have Bird Flu?

You commented on Step 2 and 3.

Mosquitoes normally are found outdoors. So it you live in a clean indoor environment, you will probably be O.K. if you remain inside your home. But if you generally spend a lot of time outdoors, then treat a set of your clothing with

1. You can protect yourself from mosquito bites in two ways. If you spend a lot of time outdoors you can create protective clothing (boots, clothing and camping gear) that repel mosquitoes by treating them with Permethrin.

This will keep the mosquitoes away. Do not wash these clothes. They are just for outdoors. Follow the directions for treating your clothing in this type of manor. One treatment can last for around 3 months.

You commented on Step 4.

The goal is to protect yourself immediately once you become infected. But how will you know if you are infected? You will not immediately know. But your body will begin to show signs. You may be bitten by a mosquito and generally you will develop a mosquito bit. Is it infected? You will not know. At the moment, this pandemic is only in the beginning stages. So if you experience a mosquito bite, you will probably be O.K. But when this explodes, be aware of any mosquito bites or bites from other insects. Many insects such as flees can also bit and spread this infection but perhaps minimally.

So although I am analyzing a very deadly pandemic and how to survive. I am exploring this pandemic before it has exploded. I am trying to get ahead of the storm.

Then you began to discuss Step 5

If you get to Step #5, you will be at deaths door. You will not make any decisions because your body is in complete breakdown. This approach (Step 5) is really for the doctors and nurses in hospitals to deal with patients that exhibit this condition.

So bird flu is around you. It is killing birds and animals by the millions and maybe even billions. It is in Colorado. But for the most part it is not in humans yet. This thread is developing an approach to survive, once it begins to explode.

Thanks! I'll keep it saved.

When the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus made its first appearance at a U.S. poultry farm in February 2022, roughly 29,000 turkeys at an Indiana facility were sacrificed in an attempt to avert a larger outbreak.

It didn’t work. Three years later, highly pathogenic avian influenza has spread to all 50 states. The number of commercial birds that have died or been killed exceeds 166 million and the price of eggs is at an all-time high.

Poultry producers, infectious disease experts and government officials now concede that H5N1 is likely here to stay. That recognition is prompting some of them to question whether the long-standing practice of culling every single bird on an infected farm is sustainable over the long-term.

The current version of the bird flu — known as H5N1 2.3.4.4b — is both highly contagious and highly lethal. It has has plowed through the nation’s commercial chickens, turkeys and ducks with a mortality rate of nearly 100 percent.

“There’s a reason why they call it ‘highly pathogenic avian influenza,’” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Research Organization. “It just goes straight through a flock like a hot knife through butter.”

Sparing birds that don’t look sick is a gamble. They may be infected and able to spread the virus through their poop before they have any outward signs of illness. The only way to know for sure is to test each bird individually — an expensive and time-consuming prospect. And if even a single infected bird is missed, it can spread the virus to an entire flock of replacements, Rasmussen said.

Bird flu vaccines may offer some protection. Both China and France use them, and the USDA granted a conditional license this month for an H5N2 vaccine designed for chickens, according to Zoetis, the company that developed it.

Killing 166 Million Birds Hasn't Stopped Bird Flu. Is There a Better Way?

This article gave some interesting thoughts such as vaccinating birds against bird flu. Eggs in the U.S. are disappearing from food shelves. The article also discusses building up a natural immunity in chickens. I think this might work in a very controlled environment and may produce a species of immune resistant chickens.

I came across some research that may be quite interesting.

As highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza continues to spread in the U.S., posing serious threats to dairy and poultry farms, both farmers and public health experts need better ways to monitor for infections, in real time, to mitigate and respond to outbreaks. Now, thanks to research from Washington University in St. Louis published in a special issue of ACS Sensors on “breath sensing,” virus trackers have a way to monitor aerosol particles of H5N1.

To create their bird flu sensor, researchers in the lab of Rajan Chakrabarty, a professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at WashU’s McKelvey School of Engineering, worked with electrochemical capacitive biosensors to improve the speed and sensitivity of virus and bacteria detection.

The new biosensor works within five minutes, preserving the sample of the microbes for further analysis and providing a range of the pathogen concentration levels detected on a farm. This allows for immediate action, Chakrabarty said.

A Deep Dive -------

The integrated pathogen sampling-sensing unit is about the size of a desktop printer and can be placed where farms vent exhaust from chicken or cattle housing. The unit is an interdisciplinary engineering marvel consisting of a “wet cyclone bioaerosol sampler” that originally was developed for sampling SARS-CoV-2 aerosols.

The pathogen-laden air enters the sampler at very high velocities and is mixed with the fluid that lines the walls of the sampler to create a surface vortex, thereby trapping the virus aerosols. The unit has an automated pumping system that sends the sampled fluid every five minutes to the biosensor for seamless virus detection.
A team of researchers posing next to a printer sized device
Co-authors Joseph Puthuserry (left), Yuezhi August Li, Joshin Kumar, Shu-Wen You and Professor Rajan Chakrabarty stand alongside the integrated H5N1 sampling-sensing unit that they developed. (Photo courtesy of AIR lab)

Chakrabarty’s senior staff scientist, Meng Wu, along with graduate student Joshin Kumar, undertook the laborious task of optimizing the surface of the electrochemical biosensor to increase its sensitivity and stability for detection of the virus in trace amounts (less than 100 viral RNA copies per cubic meter of air).

The biosensor uses “capture probes” called aptamers, which are single strands of DNA that bind to virus proteins, flagging them. The team’s big challenge was finding a way to get these aptamers to work with the 2-millimeter surface of a bare carbon electrode in detecting the pathogens.

Source: New biosensor can detect airborne bird flu in under five minutes

Hiding Secrets in Plain Sight.

Something came to mind about a major pandemic in China near the end of 2023. It was killing hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of children in China at the time. Their bodies were cremated and the deaths were hidden from the world. At the time Chinese people began to seek information as they panicked. I recorded the information here on Wrong Planet.

Is this Round 2 of a new Pandemic?

Their bodies were cremated. As a result of this pandemic, China made significant changes. They went from a draconian mask rule that was very depressive and enforced into an open rule of throw away the masks. They also implemented another change. They had a ONE CHILD RULE. This limited the number of babies a mother could produce. They changed this to a THREE CHILD RULE and began encouraging mothers to have several babies.

So what do I think might be happening? H5N1 is on the move in the U.S. Many people in the past couple years have gotten H5N1 but their conditions have been mild. A very small number have experienced a very severe variant with a very high death rate in humans. But this condition may evolve into an extremely deadly adult version of H1N1.

I came across an article today that proposed the following:

Vaccination of threatened species against avian flu should be debated and considered in some specific cases, such as critically endangered species.

This proposal makes sense. Keep alive the species that are going extinct.

The impact of this virus could be considered catastrophic for some wild species of seabirds, such as penguins, skuas, pelicans and many others. Available information suggests that millions of wild birds may have died due to H5N1. The 16% of the wild bird species affected by H5N1 are of conservation concern. It has even affected critically endangered birds, such as the California condor, compromising years of conservation efforts—at least 6% of their wild populations have died from this pathogen.

Additionally, this avian pathogen is strongly affecting some mammalian species, an unexpected spillover. Massive mortalities have been reported in some species; for instance, more than 24,000 sea lions died in coastal areas of South America in less than one year. The 27% of the mammalian species affected by H5N1 are also of conservation concern. Some viral mutations suggest that the virus has adapted to infect mammals, and mammal-to-mammal transmission could be the cause of massive mortalities.

Source: A looming global threat: H5N1 virus decimates wildlife, disrupts ecosystems and endangers human health

Some companies are actively trying to limit the spread of deadly bird flu in birds and animals by using vaccines. For example:

Elanco teams with Medgene to commercialize pathogenic avian influenza vaccine

In late February, Elanco Animal Health Inc. (ELAN) announced a new agreement with South Dakota-based Medgene to leverage the company's innovative vaccine platform technology. The agreement includes commercialization of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) vaccine for use in dairy cattle.

Medgene reports the vaccine has met all requirements of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) platform technology guidelines and is in the final stages of review for conditional license approval.

But the bottom line is WILL IT WORK? Female dairy cattle are vulnerable for this threat because detailed analysis has shown that H5N1 explodes in their udder.

H5N1 and other variants are on the move in other regions of the world.

6 Asia-Pacific states register new avian flu cases in poultry

The article describes H5N1 in domestic birds in Australia, Cambodia, India, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan.

Officially registering the most additional HPAI outbreaks in poultry in the Asia-Pacific region over the past two weeks is the Philippines. A further 25 poultry flocks were infected with the H5N1 HPAI virus serotype, according to the national veterinary agency’s latest report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). Directly impacting a total of around 120,000 poultry, the outbreaks began in the period between early April and the end of November last year. All affected flocks were on the island of Luzon, and all but one were located in the Central Luzon region.

Two weeks ago, Taiwan’s veterinary authority reported to WOAH that the H5N1 HPAI virus had been detected in 12 more of the territory’s poultry flocks. At each premises, presence of the virus was confirmed during the month of January. All were described as commercial flocks, and located in one of three regions — the counties of Changhua and Yunlin, and Tainan city. Among the 342,000 birds were six flocks of laying hens, five of native chickens, and one comprising meat geese.

The 4th Australian poultry flock tests positive for H7N8 HPAI. All of affected farms are located near to Euroa in Strathbogie Shire. Based on WOA notifications, the four outbreaks to date in Victoria have directly impacted a total of around 594,400 poultry — all free-range commercial laying hens.

South Korean outbreak total rises to 36. Around one month ago, two more poultry flocks in South Korea tested positive for the H5N1 HPAI virus, according to the latest notification to WOAH. Affected were around 17,000 native chickens, and 85,000 laying hens. These brought the nation’s outbreak total since October of last year to 35, and the number of poultry directly affected to almost 1.55 million.

To WOAH the Cambodian authorities have recently confirmed a further outbreak involving the H5N1 virus variant. Bringing the total for the outbreak series — which began in July of last year — to four was a village flock of 855 birds in Prey Veng province.

Within the past few weeks, WOAH was notified by India’s veterinary agency about HPAI cases involving poultry in the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, and local media have reported outbreaks in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

No further HPAI cases have been confirmed among Japanese poultry flocks, and so the national total since the autumn/fall remains unchanged at 51 since February 7.

The article then moves on to human cases.

A recent update on the disease situation in this area by the World Health Organization covers four more confirmed infections in human patients with flu viruses of avian origin. All four were in China, and have tested positive for the influenza A(H9N2) virus. Onset of the symptoms was between December 13 and January 20, and each patient either had contact with backyard poultry, or had visited a live bird market. Testing positive were two women — a 76-year-old in Sichuan province, and a 56-year-old in Guangdong — and two unrelated boys (two and 15 years of age) in Hunan.

These cases bring to 117 the total number of cases linked to this virus serotype in the region since December of 2015 (including two deaths). While two of the cases were in Cambodia, and one in Vietnam, all the others were detected in China.

This graph shows the recent spread of H5N1 within bird and animal species in the U.S.



California’s state veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones described how some species (circled), like sea lions, cattle, poultry, and minks, spread H5N1 among themselves. In others (not circled), like house cats and mice, skunks, bottlenose dolphins, and goats, the virus stopped in the individual with no spread to others. So far, humans are in the latter category. | Courtesy CDFA/Peacock, T.P., Moncla, L., Dudas, G. et al.

The fast-mutating H5N1 bird flu virus is spreading across species, including humans, raising fears of a new pandemic. Experts warn that without widespread poultry vaccination, the risk of human infections and another global health crisis remains high. In response, a new international One Health strategy promotes poultry vaccination, but trade concerns are making countries like Cambodia hesitant.

Vaccination is a powerful tool against avian influenza, directly limiting viral propagation. As David Swayne, FAO consultant and former director of the USDA's Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, explains, “Vaccination can make poultry resistant to infection when exposed to the avian influenza virus and reduces the severity of any infections that occur – so less virus is produced.”

This directly translates to a reduced viral load, a crucial factor in disease control.

Swayne further underscores the cascading benefits of this reduced viral load: “This reduces environmental contamination – reducing transmission and reducing the spread of the virus. The vaccines also prevent disease and death in poultry.”

“By curbing environmental contamination and protecting poultry, vaccination safeguards both animal and human health, significantly curtailing human exposure to bird flu. This dramatic reduction in exposure directly diminishes the threat of zoonotic and pandemic influenza,” he adds.

One of the main reasons countries, particularly in the Greater Mekong Subregion, are hesitant to vaccinate poultry against H5N1 is the potential impact on poultry exports. Nations that rely heavily on poultry trade fear that vaccination could lead to restrictions from importing countries. Some major poultry buyers, including the European Union and the United States, have historically banned imports from countries that use avian influenza vaccines due to concerns that vaccinated birds could carry the virus asymptomatically, making detection more difficult.

Cambodia has reported multiple human cases of H5N1, including two deaths in 2025, yet remains hesitant to adopt poultry vaccination due to economic concerns. Thailand has expressed similar reservations.

H5N1 Control: Compensation or Vaccination? Cambodia's Crucial Choice

So the world has an approach to vaccinate poultry but they have not employed it primarily because many U.S. and European countries would ban their products from market if they took that approach. That is strange. Bird flu does not seem to be going away. It has moved across many species of birds and across many species of animals in the Americas and yet we still ban the use of H5N1 vaccines in poultry.

Bird Flu is on the move. This time in Antarctica.

H5N1 flu is now killing birds on the continent of Antarctica

A highly pathogenic strain of bird flu is spreading south along the Antarctic Peninsula and could devastate populations of penguins and other seabirds. H5N1 bird flu has been found in dead birds on Antarctica for the first time. The deadly strain of bird flu is currently spreading south along the Antarctic Peninsula and could spread around the continent, with devastating consequences for wildlife such as penguins.

Between November 2024 and January 2025, Vianna’s team surveyed 16 nesting sites of seabirds along the Antarctic Peninsula. The researchers found 35 dead skuas that had no signs of injury. Samples from 11 of the bodies were found to be positive for the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus that has been spreading around the world in recent years.

Skuas scavenge on corpses and predate on other birds, so they are particularly likely to become infected by feeding on infected birds. The skuas in this area are hybrids between south polar (Stercorarius maccormicki) and brown (Stercorarius antarcticus) skuas.

Sick brown skuas and giant petrels on Bird Island, just off the larger island of South Georgia, tested positive for the virus in 2023. South Georgia is around 1500 kilometres from the Antarctic Peninsula.

“The reported deaths of skuas is concerning,” says Thijs Kuiken at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Some species in the region are found only on small islands, and could be wiped out by bird flu, he says.

On 25 February (2025?), another group of researchers reported finding H5N1 on the archipelagos of Crozet and Kerguelen in the Indian Ocean near Antarctica, where the virus has killed elephant seals as well as several species of birds. That means the virus has moved more than halfway around the Antarctic, towards Australia and New Zealand – the only major countries that remain free of the virus.