Bird flu arrives in Antarctica, the last continent free of the virus

Antonio Alcamí surveys penguin colonies in Antarctica using personal protective equipment

this Avian Influenza This is a virus that could cause the next Pandemic.It has killed hundreds of millions of birds and even reached Antarctica.It was discovered by Spanish scientists Base “Gabriel of Castile”. They were interviewed by the program “Noticias Cuatro”.

scientists and Personal Protective Equipment (Personal Protective Equipment) penguin colony deception island Antarctica. They are two Spaniards from CSIC (Higher Council for Scientific Research), Antonio Alcamí and Ángela Vázquez. They have been searching for bird flu viruses at the Gabriel de Castilla base for two months and discovered them for the first time in Antarctica.

Antonio Alcamí commented that this is complicated because the wind is very strong, so when you collect samples you have to constantly protect yourself and ensure that the tube does not blow away. He added that they wanted him to jump to Antarctica, and in fact, that’s why they were there.In addition, he also said took longer meet their estimates because they are good newsbecause, if it has arrived Decemberthey discovered that the penguin colony was littered with carcasses.

In fact, they expected to find it on penguins, but Antonio confirmed they found them on some migratory birds called penguins. pay themwho immigrated from South America or subantarctic islands to Antarctica. This is the only continent where bird flu has yet to reach.He also said that viruses present in skuas have mutation

This makes it highly pathogenic because animals die from nervous system infection, which is why it is fulminant.

Will avian influenza spread among humans?

Antonio thinks the same thing could happen in Humanity, but the virus has not yet learned how to spread to humans.The point is that it has already been skipped because they have already registered 882 cases around the world from Year 2003.They are still very few and very isolated because the virus is so serious fatalbut Not very contagious.

Antonio confirms the virus has pandemic potentialActually there are many monitor worldwide. To this end, scientists began to travel to Antarctica. He added that they returned to Spain sad but in a better situation than they expected. Penguins are not currently infected with the virus because the virus is already there and it is only a matter of time before it spreads there. other species

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this WHO (World Health Organization) states that the main factors risk of infection among all living beings Humanity Avian influenza occurs through contact with infected poultry (live or dead) or contaminated environments (such as live poultry markets). Other factors may include the slaughtering, plucking or handling of infected poultry carcasses, as well as the actual preparation of the poultry for consumption, especially in the home.