As the first known cases of H5N1 are detected in the region, scientists fear for the isolated penguin and seal populations that have never been exposed.
The virus was found in populations of a scavenging bird called brown skua on Bird Island, which is part of the British overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. These migratory birds probably brought it with them from South America where bird flu is widespread and has already killed an estimated 500,000 seabirds and 20,000 sea lions in Chile and Peru alone.
The island lies just off the northwest tip of South Georgia, about 600 miles south-east of the Falkland Islands. A risk assessment on the impacts of bird flu reaching the continent, published by Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, said fur seals, sea lions, skuas and gulls were the most at risk, followed by penguins, birds of prey, sheathbills and giant petrels. Dr.
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