Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Suspected in penguins and shags on the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctic Coast

Fabiola León (1, 2) , Céline Le Bohec (3, 4, 5) , Eduardo Pizarro (1, 2) , Loïcka Baille (6) , Robin Cristofari (7) , Aymeric Houstin (6) , Daniel Zitterbart (6) , Gonzalo Barriga (8) , Elie Poulin (2) , Juliana Vianna (1, 2)

1 UC - Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
2 CGR - Center for Genome Regulation [Santiago]
3 IPHC - Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien
4 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
5 CSM - Centre Scientifique de Monaco
6 WHOI - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
7 Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki
8 UCHILE - Universidad de Chile = University of Chile [Santiago]

Suspected cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) were detected in Adélie penguins and Antarctic shags at the southernmost latitude so far in Antarctica, at two breeding sites out of 13 visited, using highly specific PCR assay. These first records mark the progression of the H5N1 panzootic into Antarctica.

Mots clés: Avian influenza; Antarctica; Seabirds; Penguin; Shags

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Fabiola León, Céline Le Bohec, Eduardo Pizarro, Loïcka Baille, Robin Cristofari, et al.. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Suspected in penguins and shags on the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctic Coast. 2024. ⟨hal-04791193⟩