Has bird flu already killed hundreds, if not thousands of penguins in Antarctica?
That’s what researchers are seeking to find out after a scientific expedition last month found at least 532 dead Adelie penguins, with thousands more thought to have died, according to a statement from Federation University Australia.
While the researchers suspect the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus killed the penguins, the field tests were inconclusive, the university said. Samples are being shipped off to labs that the researchers hope will provide answers in coming months.
Scientists are concerned specifically that the often fatal H5N1 influenza could decimate threatened species of penguins and other animals on the remote southern continent.
The disease has spread more aggressively in wildlife than ever before since arriving in South America in 2022 and rapidly made its way to Antarctica, where the first case of H5N1 was confirmed in February.
“This has the potential to have a massive impact on wildlife that is already being impacted by things like climate change and other environmental stresses,” said Meagan Dewar, a wildlife biologist with Federation University, who participated in the latest expedition.