Photo Credit SERNAPESCA
#17,596
Two weeks ago, in Avian Flu's New Normal: When the Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary, we looked at the enormous toll HPAI H5 is taking on avian and mammalian species around the world.
While many countries have cut back on their reporting, Chile's SERNAPESCA continues to update their surveillance numbers on marine animals presumed killed by the virus. As the chart below illustrates, over 28 days in July the number of fatalities reported increased by nearly 3,700.
This is almost certainly a substantial undercount, as Chile boasts nearly 4000 miles of shoreline which is impossible to monitor completely, and not all carcasses are washed ashore.
The latest (translated) update follows, after which I'll have a postscript.
Sernapesca reinforces its governance in the management of avian influenza for the second half of 2023
Wednesday August 02, 2023
Since the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the country was known, last February, the entities in charge of managing the contingency have had to make adjustments to deal with the magnitude of the effects of the disease on marine fauna, with strandings of dead animals exceeding four thousand specimens per month.
“The analyzes and projections indicate that the situation in the coming months is expected to be complex, mainly due to the arrival of the El Niño Phenomenon on the coasts of the Northern zone, affecting the availability of food for marine fauna. A physiological condition of the specimens, diminished as a result of surviving avian influenza, together with the loss of food can produce a synergistic effect on strandings, increasing or maintaining the frequency of these events," said Soledad Tapia, National Director of Sernapesca.
UPDATE OF THE FIGURES
The latest report on the situation of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) by H5 subtype of Eurasian lineage, in the animals that are under the guardianship of Sernapesca, reported that more than 18,000 marine animals have died as a result of this disease.
Specifically, there are 18,882 specimens killed from February to July 28, of which 16,310 are common sea lions, 2,493 Humboldt penguins, 34 chungungos, 27 spiny porpoises, 17 Chilean dolphins and 1 huillin.
Regarding the positive cases, the last one was a sea lion found in Punta Arenas, Magallanes Region, on July 14. With this, there are 47 specimens infected nationwide with avian influenza: 36 sea lions, 4 Humboldt penguins, 2 chungungos, 2 spiny porpoises, 2 Chilean dolphins and 1 huillin.
It is also important to inform the public that special coordination work has begun between the competent bodies to protect the Chilean Antarctic, establishing limitations in the face of the detection of a positive case, and reinforcing the dissemination of biosafety protocols, especially in addressing tourist ships to Antarctic soil.
The $64 question - still unanswered - is how this virus is managing to spread so devastatingly among marine mammals in South America (and elsewhere).
As there are several plausible alternative routes of transmission (e.g. consumption of infected birds, `high environmental load' of the virus, etc.), mammal-to-mammal transmission - while considered a possibility - can be difficult to prove.
But even if it isn't occurring, we are seeing the tip of what is most certainly an ecological disaster, with potentially wide-ranging consequences. Where this leads is anyone's guess, but HPAI H5' has made unprecedented strides over the past year.
And that shows no signs of abating.
