Buenos Aires is where sea lions are most affected by bird flu – Puerto Rico Magazine

On the same day as Senasa’s latest report, in response to the coastal avian influenza emergency affected by sea lions, the Mar del Plata Ports Alliance Board of Directors issued Resolution 377, in which its representatives are responsible for all safety and care measures for the mammal and the population. In the same resolution, the fee increase was approved.

Since the first case of avian influenza infection in a sea lion was discovered in the Tierra del Fuego province on August 8, confirmed cases have continued to appear along the entire coastline, all the way to the most severely affected province of Buenos Aires. .

“The affected areas correspond to sites defined as most important for monitoring marine mammals,” Senasa’s report said, revealing that as of September 11, 28 suspicions had been resolved, 17 of which had proven positive, One of them is due to “epidemiological relationships.”

In the province of Buenos Aires, the sea lion colonies in Puerto Quecan and Puerto Mar del Plata are composed entirely of male sea lions of different ages and are mainly concentrated during the non-breeding season – mid-February to mid-February. Starting in December. A large proportion of these animals then migrate to their habitats in the Uruguay Islands and their breeding grounds in Patagonia.

There are about 4,000 sea lions in the area, and Senasa estimates the mortality rate so far is 7 percent. Overall statistics show that 56% of sea lion deaths occurred in Buenos Aires province, which also has the most positive cases.

In Rio Negro, affected sea lions are found in San Antonio Cistre (near the Punta Villarino colony) and Punta Bermeja Loberia (considered the largest single-haired sea lion colony in South America). ) found; it is reported to consist of 4,000 permanent individuals, with an estimated mortality rate of approximately 2%.

In Chubut department, positive cases are found in Puerto Piramides, Puerto Madryn, Camarones, Ciudad Commodore Rivadavia, Radatili and Punta Tombo. There are several sea lion colonies in the area, some of which are important for breeding, such as the one located 4 kilometers from Port of Piramides.

There have been reports of mammal and bird deaths in this area of ​​great ecological relevance for birds and mammals, but only “one single-haired sea lion and two elephant seals,” according to Senassa. The flu tested positive, while all birds analyzed gave negative results in their tests. They noted that “in the province of Chubut, the number of dead animals was low, less than four, except in Camarone, where the carcasses of eighty-four sea lions were found.”

In the case of Santa Cruz, there is a habitat in Caleta Olivia and it has the Deseado Estuary, a habitat for wolves, which is similar to the province of Chubut Chubut), the impact was low, with less than 10 animals killed, which were found in the towns of Punta Loyola, Caleta Olivia and Puerto de Seado.

In Tierra del Fuego, where the first cases were recorded, the number of wolves that have died so far is 28, all on Rio Grande Beach, 10 kilometers from Wolf Island.

Regarding the spread of the virus in the affected areas, they said that of the 28 suspicions resolved, only five found small numbers of dead birds near wolves, and the presence of the virus has not been detected in the wild. birds.

Precisely because they are wild animals, treatment of coastal viruses must be coordinated with governmental, non-governmental, scientific and safety organizations in all affected areas. Regular monitoring of settlements and coastal areas is reported; if an animal is found to show signs of illness or is dead, public access to the area is restricted and the carcass is sampled and disposed of.

But in order to optimize resources, and given that the disease has been detected in sea lion populations, Senasa decided to continue collecting samples and records but no longer consider suspicions to be resolved within 24 hours. Agreements must be made with scientific institutions to maintain samples and guarantee monitoring.

In Mar del Plata it is run by a consortium

On the same day this report was released, the Mar del Plata Ports Alliance Board of Directors approved Resolution 377 authorizing the Alliance President to “take all actions aimed at mitigating the health emergency caused by avian influenza,” affecting the sea lion population in the Port of Mar del Plata. “

Article 3 of the Regulation states that “an agreement must be implemented on measures for the safety and care of marine mammals, in particular port populations and populations in general, including the expenditures required for this purpose and their costs.” Budget items, in each Report the situation at the next board meeting. “

To give it greater budgetary power, Article 4 authorizes “the investment of temporarily excess available peso funds in banks’ current accounts in co-investment funds that meet the conditions of high liquidity, low risk and immediate rescue.” The system; authorizes its management and Partial or full rescue to meet short-term payment obligations. “

Director Gabriel Felicia will not encounter financial obstacles to guarantee public health for the port community and the population at large and must perform all cleaning tasks with dedication and in compliance with the requirements of the health situation. Let us remember that, faced with the first cases discovered, the Alliance did not meet the stringent demands demanded by Senasa until the port community itself publicly denounced it.

Let us hope that, now that the health emergency is in your hands, the situation will not relax, especially with the possibility of having an unrestricted budget and approving an increase in the same resolution, the detailed form of which can be found on the website of the resolution See the consortium.