Research by a German laboratory shows this.
Last year, about six dead walruses were found on Spitsbergen. According to Lydersen, it is ‘not unlikely’ that some also had bird flu. Walruses mainly eat fish and shellfish, but sometimes also birds.
Bird flu is a highly contagious disease that mainly affects birds. Migratory birds spread the virus all over the world. The virus is also increasingly affecting other animal species and sometimes humans. At the beginning of this year it was announced that a polar bear had died from bird flu in Alaska for the first time.
The current variant of the virus emerged in 2021 and has since spread worldwide. In Poland, cats fell prey to bird flu. Also brown and black bears, foxes, badgers, sea lions and otters. In addition, entire colonies of birds were wiped out, such as predatory gulls and penguins in Antarctica.
In The Guardian, emeritus professor Diana Bell from the University of East Anglia (in Norwich, England) said she found the development frightening. “In recent years, the list of infected mammals has been growing longer. The variation in animals is now so great that it is no longer just a disease of birds.”
We previously made this video about the virus:
