The avian influenza virus circulating in Brazil is thought to have roots in the coastal regions of Chile or Peru, as indicated by recent genetic analysis. This revelation comes as the Agriculture Ministry confirms new bird flu infections in Patagonian sea lions off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state.
These infections are the first to be spotted in marine mammals in Brazil, with earlier occurrences documented in Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Scientists are still unsure exactly how marine mammals contract the virus or whether it spreads readily among them. In Peru and Chile, the bird flu virus has led to the death of roughly 9 percent of the sea lion population.
From May to September 21, the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry documented a total of 106 cases of the highly pathogenic influenza A virus (H5N1) in Brazil. Of these, 112 cases involved wild birds, while three were found in birds raised for subsistence, with no reports yet of the virus affecting commercial poultry farms.
An additional 12 suspected cases of the disease are presently under investigation,...
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