The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has said the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus is suspected to have reached Marion Island and is possibly responsible for causing mortalities in at least three breeding seabird species.

The situation is being closely monitored by the 11 field personnel overwintering on the island, who have been trained to recognise possible HPAI signs in birds and seals, and in the necessary monitoring and mitigation methods.

They will be taking all precautions to ensure they do not spread the virus, and they are collecting information to assist with decisions about the appropriate response, the department said on November 12.

After an initial suspected case in a Brown Skua in mid-September, another five suspected cases were found in early November, involving three Wandering Albatross chicks and two Southern Giant Petrel adults.

The virus can be transported long distances by migrating birds, and this is likely how the virus arrived on Marion Island.

Marion Island is one of South Africa’s two sub-Antarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean.

Having spread across the world since 2021, HPAI (H5N1) was first detected in seabirds and marine mammals in South Georgia, southeast of South America, in October 2023.

It reached Antarctica in February this year, and suspected cases were reported in Southern Elephant Seals at Possession Island in the Crozet Archipelago, east of Marion Island in October.

The Prince Edward Islands, comprising Marion Island and Prince Edward Island, are breeding and moulting sites for millions of seabirds, including almost half of the world’s Wandering Albatrosses and hundreds of thousands of penguins, and are home to large numbers of Southern Elephant Seals and Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Fur Seals.

The DFFE, which is the management authority for the Prince Edward Islands, has developed, together with the Western Cape Veterinary Services, marine ornithologists, marine mammal biologists, disease experts and colleagues overseas with similar experience, a protocol for the management of HPAI in seabirds.

The department will continue to work to monitor and hopefully limit the spread of the virus on the island.