Bird Flu Kills Thousands of Penguins and Sea Lions

In the Republic of Chile, the avian influenza H5N1 virus has affected fifty species, including sea lions, pelicans, chungungos, seagulls, and penguins, in 2023.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) Eurasian lineage bird flu virus has been confirmed in 12 of Chile's 16 regions.

As of early June 2023, more than 1,300 Humboldt penguins have died from bird flu, reported Chile's National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service.

"The 1,300 (recorded cases) are probably less than the real number" of dead penguins, said Gerardo Cerda, from Sernapesca in Coquimbo, and explained to media on June 12, 023, that "there are sectors with cliffs, where the specimens can strand and not be seen."

In Chile, SERNAPESCA acts with respect to the species under its guardianship, corresponding to penguins and marine mammals.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recently issued an Epidemiological Alert confirming agricultural authorities in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, the U.S., Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela have detected outbreaks of HPAI viruses in domestic birds, farm poultry and/or wild birds, and in mammals in 2023.

Among mammals infected with bird flu, the PAHO says red foxes and skunks were the most frequently affected in North America, and fur seals in South America.