Polar bear discovered with bird flu for the first time

The bear was discovered in northern Alaska, near Utqiagvik. It cannot be ruled out that polar bears have already died from bird flu; they usually die in remote places. “You’re really relying on the public being there or wildlife biologists doing the monitoring,” said Alaska State Veterinarian Robert Gerlach.

By the end of 2023, Antarctica was considered one of only three regions – alongside Australia and Oceania – that the pathogen had not yet reached. Seagulls migrating between South America and Antarctica have now likely introduced the devastating virus. Fur seals and seagulls are also affected, and an increasing number of them are dying. “We already have a biodiversity pandemic,” Diana Bell, emeritus professor of conservation biology at the University of East Anglia, told the British newspaper The Guardian.

The pathogen has already been discovered in brown and black bears
The polar bear now under investigation could have become infected after eating a dead or sick bird, Gerlach said. In Alaska, infections have previously been discovered in a brown bear, an American black bear and several red foxes, according to the report.

Scientists believe “one of the greatest ecological catastrophes of modern times” could be imminent if remote penguin populations are also affected. A change in this sensitive ecosystem could have devastating consequences.

Four major eruptions in almost twenty years
According to a study, there were a total of four major outbreaks of the pathogen from the H5 virus group after 2006. The ongoing outbreak is caused by a variant of the bird flu subtype H5N1. It led to the deaths of countless seabirds – as well as mammals – in the Northern Hemisphere, southern Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and South America. Since the end of last year, thousands of dead marine animals have been found on the Pacific coast, first in Peru and later in Chile – such as pelicans, penguins, sea otters, seals and marine mammals.

People rarely become infected
Europe has also been regularly plagued by bird flu for years. While the pathogen used to occur mainly in the cold season in this country due to bird migration, infections have occurred here all year round since 2021. Gulls, terns and gannets were affected. Cats, foxes, martens, mink and seals also died. According to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, people have only become infected in very rare cases.