GUWAHATI: The extremely dangerous and deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has reportedly reached Antartica, posing a grave threat to the penguin population in the south pole of the planet, according to researchers.
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The spread of the virus, which has decimated wild bird populations across several continents including Europe, North America and South America, could pose great risk to the penguin population in Antartica which is already on the verge of extinction.
The study titled ‘Detection and spread of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus H5N1 in the Antarctic Region’ stated, “The Antarctic region is one of the most remote environments on earth and is the location of enormous breeding colonies of various avian species that may be susceptible, and succumb, to infection with HPAIV.”
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Penguins are known to cluster together during breeding season, which means that the virus could rip through entire colonies if it continues to spread through the region leading to an ecological disaster on an unimaginable scale.
The disease was allegedly first detected at South Georgia island, when dozens of birds reportedly died from the virus, according to the report.