The Tierra del Fuego government put up billboards to prevent people from entering a protected area along the Rio Grande where 21 sea lions were found dead and at least seven of them were confirmed to be infected with bird flu.
After learning that this is the first positive case of the disease in a mammal in the country, authorities are taking action to prevent the spread of the virus and its possible transmission to humans.
To that end, brigade members and provincial park rangers placed signs prohibiting entry to the Atlantic Coast Provincial Reserve, where the sea lion was spotted last week.
An official spokesman who was consulted explained that the idea was to “keep people away from the department until the health condition has been resolved”.
They also cautioned that “it is very important to keep your distance and to be aware of the symptoms of the fauna,” according to a statement from Tierra del Fuego’s Production and Environment Ministry.
Authorities informed that, based on international experience, marine mammals may be susceptible to bird flu and rarely become infected.
“Countries in the region, such as Peru and Chile, have also reported other positive cases. In the latter country, the town of Puerto Williams (in front of the city of Ushuaia) had a bird population of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) in June this year. come out of the flu,” they said.
Last Friday, the National Agricultural Health and Quality Service (SENASA) reported seven cases of sea lion infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 found along the Rio Grande.
Senasa has therefore, together with the provincial government and the city of Rio Grande, established a monitoring committee to be responsible for the implementation of the containment and containment missions in the affected areas.
Likewise, the health agency continues to work with the different regions, as well as national, provincial and municipal organizations and production sectors, “as a state of vigilance is maintained in the face of the behavior of the disease and its forms and forms of transmission”. spread,” the official report said.
