“The virus has completely spread throughout the Antarctic region where we have the capacity to go and study,” said Neira, a scientist at the University of Chile and the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH).
“This disease is capable of killing 100% of the birds in short periods of time,” he said.
“For example, in one or two days it can kill 90% or 100% of the animals in a given area.”
Antarctic species are often small in total population, underscoring the risk of outbreaks.
Animals such as Antarctic cormorants and skuas number about 20,000.
A global wave of bird flu has affected birds and mammals around the world since 2021, spread via bird migration.
In 2023, it killed thousands of Humboldt penguins in Chile.
-Agence France-Presse