On Thursday (30), the Chilean Fisheries and Aquaculture Agency (Sernapesca) within the Biobío area confirmed that greater than 70 sea lions have died off the coast of Isla Santa María and that this “could be due to avian flu.”
According to Chilean media, residents of the island territory, situated 27 kilometers from Coronel, simply over 500 kilometers south of Santiago, reported the looks of sea lions on the coast of the Puerto Norte and Puerto Sur sectors.
Although the rise in deaths on this species is expounded to the massive inhabitants of greater than 5,000 animals within the space, a optimistic case of a sea lion with avian influenza was confirmed final week in the identical area.
In this regard, the director of Sernapesca del Biobío, Iván Oyarzún, identified that it can’t be excluded that the reason for dying of those mammals is because of avian flu.
He even warned that it is vitally probably that it’s this illness.
“We are talking about more than 70 dead animals, and two weeks ago, a positive case of a sea lion with avian flu was confirmed in Coronel.”
“Since we have also seen animals with symptoms associated or compatible with this disease, we conclude that the mortality we are seeing can most likely be attributed to avian influenza on the island,” the director mentioned.
Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Health (Minsal) reported the primary human case of avian influenza detected in northern Chile.
The avian influenza virus (H5N1) is of Eurasian origin, was detected in 2021, and arrived in Chile in late 2022.
The first instances affected birds akin to pelicans, gulls, and penguins, nevertheless it unfold to different animals.
Before the invention of the 70 lifeless sea lions, in accordance with the most recent Sernapesca report, 532 sea lions, 234 Humboldt penguins, and 6 chungungos have been reported lifeless on the coasts of the northern macrozone within the first quarter of 2023.
The areas affected are Arica and Parinacota, with 292 lifeless sea lions, and Atacama, with 139 lifeless Humboldt penguins.
This quantity is 482.4% larger than the overall variety of strandings of those species reported in 2022 and is described by authorities as “a historic number of dead stranded marine animals.”