Dr. Marco Falchieri, scientist at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, taking samples from a fur seal (left). The kelp gull is widespread in the sub-Antarctic islands and is one of the species affected by the avian influenza virus. Images: British Antarctic Survey /...
Given the rapid warming in the Arctic, the days of permafrost soils such as here on Svalbard seem numbered. Dormant within them are countless microorganisms, including potential pathogens that can be released as the soils thaw. (Photo: Julia Hager) Thawing permafrost...
Seventy-three percent of study respondents were unaware that they were at risk of contracting rabies after a dog bite. Image: Laurence Daigle Polar foxes transmit rabies to dogs that breed in cities where indigenous communities were settled in the 1950s. The public is...
Gentoo penguins are the second largest penguins in the Falkland Islands after the king penguins. Avian pox outbreaks occur every few years in the various colonies. Photo: Julia Hager Wildlife diseases do not stop at remote islands. This is especially true for diseases...
One of the bird species that could bring the highly contagious H5N1 avian influenza virus from the north is the Arctic tern, which migrates toward Antarctica every northern autumn, making one of the longest documented animal migrations. Image: Dr Michael Wenger In...
