Avian influenza virus in Antarctic marine mammals

EP

Monday, July 15, 2024

A Spanish research team from the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CBMSO-CSIC), part of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and University (MICIU), has discovered a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in the carcass of an elephant seal in Antarctica.

Spread of the disease to other groups of animals.

This is the first confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza infection in marine mammals in Antarctica.

According to the agency, this is the first confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza infection in marine mammals in Antarctica, indicating that the disease has spread to other groups of animals. unknown consequences for Antarctic fauna and ecosystems.

Spain has set up a molecular diagnostics lab in Antarctica following the mass death of various animal species in southern South America. The first reliable evidence of the virus spreading to the white continent was reported in February last year, when Spanish scientists Antonio Alcami And Angela Vasquez They found the infection in samples of skuas collected by Argentine scientists near the Primavera Antarctic base.

Project PERPANT

An expedition was organized on board the ship in March last year. BIO Hesperidesand the CSIC research group led by Antonio Alcami with the participation of Angela Vázquez and in collaboration with the PERPANTAR project led by Virginia Morandini (MNCN-CSIC), collected samples with maximum protection measures in various islands of the South Shetland Islands archipelago, where Spain has its Antarctic bases Juan Carlos I and Gabriel de Castillato detect the possible existence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in other areas of Antarctica.

Samples obtained during this expedition were safely stored in freezers at the Hesperides after inactivation and were analyzed in Spain, where the virus was found in the carcass of an elephant seal on the Coppermine Peninsula of Robert Island.

The tests consist of two consecutive PCR tests that were positive for influenza virus and subtype H5Subsequent sequencing of their genetic material confirmed the presence in the samples of a protease cutting sequence characteristic of a highly pathogenic influenza virus.

The research group is working on the PERPANTAR Antarctic penguin ecology project of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), funded by the National Research Agency (AEI).