H5N1 Virus Spreads, Tens of Thousands of Birds and Hundreds of Sea Lions Dead in Peru's Protected Areas

Illustration of complexities in Peru. (Wikimedia Commons/Kevo287)

JAKARTA - Bird flu has killed tens of thousands of birds, mostly pelicans and at least 716 sea lions in protected areas across Peru, authorities say, as the H5N1 strain spreads across the region.

Peru recorded its first cases of the virus in November in birds in the north of the country. Since then, the virus has killed 63.000 birds, according to government data.

"We have also recorded since mid-January an unusual death in many sea lions, so far we have approximately 716 sea lions that have died in seven protected natural areas on the coast," said Roberto Gutierrez, head of surveillance for the National Service of Natural Protected Areas, citing Reuters, February 22.

Since early 2021, avian flu has swept the world, killing more than 200 million birds due to disease or mass culling, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

In South America, cases of bird flu have been detected in Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and more recently in Argentina and Uruguay. In Brazil, the world's biggest poultry exporter, there are still no confirmed cases.

Meanwhile in Chile, health authorities last week detected the first positive case of a marine mammal, a sea lion on a beach in the north of the country.

In recent weeks, crews from Peru's National Forest and Wildlife Service, in protective plastic suits, gloves and masks, have collected and buried hundreds of sea lions from several beaches along Peru's central coast.

"What we remember originally starting with the pelicans last year, is now affecting these marine mammals," said Javier Jara, a veterinarian from the service.

It is known that sea lion populations numbered around 110.000 in Peru in 2020, mainly in the coastal region of Ica and the Paracas sanctuary, according to Oceana, an international organization dedicated to protecting the oceans.