By Michelle Power and Meagan Dewar
In December, Antarctica lost its status as the last continent free of COVID-19 when 36 people at the Chilean Bernardo O'Higgins research station tested positive. The station's isolation from other bases and fewer researchers in the continent means the outbreak is now likely contained.
However, we know all too well how unpredictable and pervasive the virus can be. And while there's currently less risk for humans in Antarctica, the potential for the COVID-19 virus to jump to Antarctica's unique and already vulnerable wildlife has scientists extremely concerned.
We're among a global team of 15 scientists who assessed the risks of the COVID-19 virus to Antarctic wildlife, and the pathways the virus could take into the fragile ecosystem. Antarctic wildlife haven't yet been tested for the COVID-19 virus, and if it does make its way into these charismatic animals, we don't know how it could affect them or the continent's ecosystem stability.
Bernardo O Higgins Station in Antarctica, where 36 people tested positive to COVID-19. Stone Monki/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA
The COVID-19 virus is one of seven coronaviruses found in people all have animal origins (dubbed "zoonoses"), and vary in their ability to infect different hosts. The COVID-19 virus is thought to have originated in an animal and spread to people through an unknown intermediate host, while the SARS outbreak of 2002-2004 likely came from raccoon dogs or civets.
Given the general ubiquity of coronaviruses and the rapid saturation of the global environment with the COVID-19 virus, it's paramount we explore the risk for it to spread from people to other animals, known as "reverse zoonoses."
The World Organization for Animal Health is monitoring cases of the COVID-19 virus in animals. To date, only a few species around the globe have been found to be susceptible, including mink, felines (such as lions, tigers and cats), dogs and a ferret.
Whether the animal gets sick and recovers depends on the species. For example, researchers found infected adolescent cats got sick but could fight off the virus, while dogs were much more resistant.
While mink, dogs or cats are not in Antarctica, more than 100 million flying seabirds, 45% of the world's penguin species, 50% of the world's seal populations and 17% of the world's whale and dolphin species inhabit the continent.
In a 2020 study, researchers ran computer simulations and found cetaceans whales, dolphins or porpoises have a high susceptibility of infection from the virus, based on the makeup of their genetic receptors to the virus. Seals and birds had a lower risk of infection.
We concluded that direct contact with people poses the greatest risk for spreading the virus to wildlife, with researchers more likely vectors than tourists. Researchers have closer contact with wildlife: many Antarctic species are found near research stations, and wildlife studies often require direct handling and close proximity to animals.
Tourists, however, are still a concerning vector, as they visit penguin roosts and seal haul-out sites (where seals rest or breed) in large numbers. For instance, a staggering 73,991 tourists traveled to the continent between October 2019 and April 2020, when COVID-19 was just emerging.
Each visitor to Antarctica carries millions of microbial passengers, such as bacteria, and many of these microbes are left behind when the visitors leave. Most are likely benign and probably die off. But if the pandemic has taught us anything, it takes only one powerful organism to jump hosts to cause a pandemic.
There are guidelines for visitors to reduce the risk of introducing infectious microbes. This includes cleaning clothes and equipment before heading to Antarctica and between animal colonies, and keeping at least five meters away from animals.
These rules are no longer enough in COVID times, and more measures must be taken.
The first and most crucial step to protect Antarctic wildlife is controlling human-to-human spread, particularly at research stations. Everyone heading to Antarctica should be tested and quarantined prior to traveling, with regular ongoing tests throughout the season. The fewer people with COVID-19 in Antarctica, the less opportunity the virus has to jump to animal hosts.
Second, close contact with wildlife should be restricted to essential scientific purposes only. All handling procedures should be re-evaluated, given how much we just don't know about the virus.
We recommend all scientific personnel wear appropriate protective equipment (including masks) at all times when handling, or in close proximity to, Antarctic wildlife. Similar recommendations are in place for those working with wildlife in Australia.
Migrating animals that may have picked up COVID-19 from other parts of the world could also spread it to other wildlife in Antarctica. Skuas, for example, migrate to Antarctica from the South American coast, where there are enormous cases of COVID-19.
And then there's the issue of sewage. Around 37% of bases release untreated sewage directly into the Antarctic ecosystem. Meanwhile, an estimated 57,000 to 114,000 liters of sewage per day is dumped from ships into the Southern Ocean.
Fragments of the COVID virus can be found in wastewater, but these fragments aren't infectious, so sewage isn't considered a transmission risk. However, there are other potentially dangerous microbes found in sewage that could be spread to animals, such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
We can curb the general risk of microbes from sewage if the Antarctic Treaty formally recognizes microbes as invasive species and a threat to the Antarctic ecosystem. This would support better biosecurity practices and environmental control of waste.
In these early stages of the pandemic, scientists are scrambling to understand complexity of COVID-19 and the virus's characteristics. Meanwhile, the virus continues to evolve.
Until the true risk of cross-species transmission is known, precautions must be taken to reduce the risk of spread to all wildlife. We don't want to see the human footprint becoming an epidemic among Antarctic wildlife, a scenario that can be mitigated by better processes and behaviors.
Michelle Power is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University.
Meagan Dewar is a Lecturer, Federation University Australia.
Disclosure statement: Michelle Power receives funding from The Australian Antarctic Division, Australian Research Council and Inspiring Australia. Meagan Dewar receives funding from Department of Environment and Energy (Australian Antarctic Science).
Reposted with permission from The Conversation.
Read the rest here:
COVID Has Reached Antarctica, and Scientists Are Extremely Concerned for Its Wildlife - EcoWatch
- Security agencies have launched final assault on terror, its ecosystem in J&K: LG - The Kashmir Monitor - The Kashmir Monitor - January 31st, 2023
- Union Budget 2023-24: Govt to announce a slew of changes to boost economy - Firstpost - January 31st, 2023
- FDA Gives First Go Ahead for Lab Grown Meat Product - November 20th, 2022
- Sam Bankman-Fried Admits the "Ethics Stuff" Was "Mostly a Front" - November 20th, 2022
- Celebrities Are Officially Being Sued by FTX Retail Investors - November 20th, 2022
- Startup Says It's Building a Giant CO2 Battery in the United States - November 20th, 2022
- Panicked Elon Musk Reportedly Begging Engineers Not to Leave - November 20th, 2022
- "Elon" Plummets in Popularity as a Baby Name for Some Reason - November 20th, 2022
- Former Facebook Exec Says Zuckerberg Has Surrounded Himself With Sycophants - November 20th, 2022
- Celebrities' Bored Apes Are Hilariously Worthless Now - November 20th, 2022
- NASA Orders Press Not to Photograph Launch Site After Moon Mission Takes Off - November 20th, 2022
- Experts Baffled by Why NASA’s “Red Crew” Wear Blue Shirts - November 20th, 2022
- Ticketmaster May Have Finally Met Its Match: Furious Swifties - November 20th, 2022
- Elon Musk Locks Twitter Employees Out Office, Then Asks Them to Meet Him on the 10th Floor - November 20th, 2022
- NASA Drops Stunning New James Webb Image of a Star Being Born - November 20th, 2022
- NASA Tells Astronauts That Tweeting Isn't As Important as Staying Alive - November 20th, 2022
- Twitter Claims Video of Moon Rocket Launch Is Revenge Porn - November 20th, 2022
- Experts Excoriate NASA Report Claiming James Webb Wasn't Homophobic - November 20th, 2022
- Behind the Lawsuit Against Celebs Who Shilled FTX Before Its Spectacular Meltdown - November 20th, 2022
- So Many People Are Using a Diabetes Drug for Weight Loss That Actual Diabetics Are Having Trouble Getting It - November 20th, 2022
- Amazing Map Lets You Scroll Through the Entire Known Universe - November 20th, 2022
- Manslaughter Case Has a Strange Twist: Tesla That Killed Couple Was on Autopilot - November 4th, 2022
- Greta Thunberg Says UN Climate Conference Is a Scam and She's Not Attending - November 4th, 2022
- This Deepfake AI Singing Dolly Parton's "Jolene" Is Worryingly Good - November 4th, 2022
- Twitter Working on Plan to Charge Users to Watch Videos - November 4th, 2022
- NASA Sets Launch Date for Mission to $10 Quintillion Asteroid - November 4th, 2022
- There's Something Strange About How These Stars Are Moving, Scientists Say - November 4th, 2022
- Scientists Spot "Stripped, Pulsating Core" of Star Caused By Horrific Accident - November 4th, 2022
- Scientists Use Actual Lunar Soil Sample to Create Rocket Fuel - November 4th, 2022
- Scientists Found a Way to Control How High Mice Got on Cocaine - November 4th, 2022
- Cats May Be Tampering With Crime Scenes, Scientists Say - November 4th, 2022
- Elon Musk Meeting With Advertisers, Begging Them Not to Leave Twitter - November 4th, 2022
- China Plans to Send Monkeys to Space Station to Have Sex With Each Other - November 4th, 2022
- US Gov to Crack Down on "Bossware" That Spies On Employees' Computers - November 4th, 2022
- Huge Drone Swarm to Form Giant Advertisement Over NYC Skyline - November 4th, 2022
- Hackers Just Took Down One of the World's Most Advanced Telescopes - November 4th, 2022
- Chinese Spaceplane Releases Mystery Object Into Orbit - November 4th, 2022
- AOC Says Her Twitter Account Broke After She Made Fun of Elon Musk - November 4th, 2022
- That "Research" About How Smartphones Are Causing Deformed Human Bodies Is SEO Spam, You Idiots - November 4th, 2022
- Jeff Bezos' Housekeeper Says She Had to Climb Out the Window to Use the Bathroom - November 4th, 2022
- Nutanix Accelerates Kubernetes Adoption in the Enterprise; Company Announces Expanded Kubernetes Ecosystem and Developer-Ready Infrastructure... - October 27th, 2022
- Govt committed to dismantle terror eco-system in Kashmir, says Lt Guv - The Northlines - October 19th, 2022
- Microplastic pollution: One of biggest threats to ecosystem - Daily Pioneer - October 19th, 2022
- Green mountains and lucid water at your doorstep: Chengdu, a park city, unravels new blueprint for Chinese cities - PR Newswire - October 19th, 2022
- Dronedek's New Partnership with A2Z Drone Delivery Further Expands Global Delivery Ecosystem of the Future - The OGM - October 19th, 2022
- Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore Wins the National Intellectual Property Award 2021 and 2022, WIPO IP Enterprises Trophy for Being the Top Patent Filer... - October 19th, 2022
- Ericsson presented its 5G and FRMCS solutions at InnoTrans - Ericsson - October 19th, 2022
- Novartis to cut its Irish workforce by up to 25% - Yahoo Finance - October 19th, 2022
- Meet the Company Innovating Portable Power Solutions in Africa - Punch Newspapers - October 19th, 2022
- Sterile Medical Packaging Market Size is Expected to Reach Around USD 65 Billion by 2033; Rising Cases of Lifestyle Disorder Disease and... - October 19th, 2022
- UK Govt ignoring needs of science sector argues report from Reading's Ridge and Partners - The Business Magazine - October 19th, 2022
- Will surpass last year India looks at highest defence exports this fiscal, as DefExpo starts - ThePrint - October 19th, 2022
- The support system for Indian chefs to excel on a world stage is lacking: chef Vivek Saggar - ETHospitality - October 19th, 2022
- Naveen invites top industries to be part of Odishas growth - The New Indian Express - October 19th, 2022
- Building Automation System Market Growth Driven by the Rising Demand for Energy-Efficient and Eco-Friendly Buildings | MDC Research - Yahoo Finance - August 30th, 2022
- Dismantle 'eco-system' that abets and sustains militancy in JK: Amit Shah - Kashmir Reader - August 30th, 2022
- Integrators and relationships: what CMOs are looking for from agencies - Bizcommunity.com - August 30th, 2022
- Criminals Minds Showrunner Simon Mirren & Production Partner Benjamin Anderson Team With Applause & Locomotive Global To Create Indian... - August 30th, 2022
- The Remarkable Customer Experience Recovery System and Digital Transformation | By Are Morch - Hospitality Net - August 30th, 2022
- Natures Vault Launches Gold-Linked Utility Token NVLT in the Polygon Ecosystem - The Daily Hodl - August 30th, 2022
- Strategically Planned Final Assault Required To Free J&K Of Terror: DGP - Kashmir Observer - August 30th, 2022
- Bhopal: 3-day meeting of science and technology councils of different states to begin from Monday - Free Press Journal - August 30th, 2022
- Strategically planned final assault is required to march towards terror free J&K: DGP - United News of India - August 30th, 2022
- Ecosystem - Wikipedia - June 29th, 2022
- Team at Atlantic Data Forensics Joins Surefire Cyber, Adding Forensic Expertise and 15-Year Track Record to Newly Launched Incident Response Firm - PR... - June 29th, 2022
- Explained: Why telecom companies are eying the 5G band of 3.5K-3.6K MHz - Business Standard - June 29th, 2022
- Cantourage UK brings Together Pharma's Uganda-grown medical cannabis to the United Kingdom - PR Newswire - June 29th, 2022
- Heading back to nature this summer? Tread lightly, say outdoor experts - CBC.ca - June 29th, 2022
- Layer Three Ventures Announces $30M Web3 Crypto Fund and Accelerator - FinTech Futures - June 29th, 2022
- Jute Bags Market is expected to grow by USD 3.83 Billion during 2027, progressing at a CAGR of 8.90% During the Forecast Period - Digital Journal - June 29th, 2022
- Introducing the Truckstop.com Partner Marketplace: A Comprehensive Transportation and Logistics Ecosystem - Benzinga - June 29th, 2022
- Limitless X Anticipates Strong Sales and Earnings in the Current Fiscal Year - GuruFocus.com - June 29th, 2022
- SEC will be strengthened to reposition Nigeria's capital market, says Finance Minister | The ICIR - ICIR - June 29th, 2022
- Broadband Stakeholder Group Replaced by UK Digital Connectivity Forum - ISPreview.co.uk - June 29th, 2022
- ICAB and BIDA signs MoU on DVS - The Business Standard - June 29th, 2022
- Atari: Results of the first half of 2020-2021 Paris Stock Exchange:ATA - GlobeNewswire - February 17th, 2021
- CME: The Benefits of More Automated FX Trade - finews.asia - February 17th, 2021
- RIOT GAMES, FREAKS 4U GAMING and SPORTFIVE partner up to produce and commercialize the 2021 VALORANT CHAMPIONS TOUR - European Gaming Industry News - February 17th, 2021
- A 'pop-up' airport for electric aircraft could transform the way we think about urban travel - CNBC - February 17th, 2021
- Neom's futuristic 'Line' in the sand is good news for Saudi Arabia's tech start-ups - Arab News - February 17th, 2021