Considerations for minimising the spread of infectious disease in Antarctic seabirds and seals

Abstract

Before 1998, concern was raised over the potential for human activities in Antarctica to introduce infectious disease organisms to native wildlife. A workshop was held that year to address this issue. In the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in human traffic to the Antarctic and the number of commercial tourists visiting the Antarctic has steadily risen. Personnel of national science programmes, though relatively few in numbers, have the most intimate contact with wildlife and thus the greater potential to introduce organisms through their research activities. Many visitors are now able to arrive in the Antarctic from temperate regions within hours by aircraft, and from northern polar regions within 24 to 36 hours. Tourists, by their high numbers, also have the potential to transfer infectious disease agents among commonly visited sites. As of 2009, no outbreaks of infectious diseases in the Antarctic reported in the literature have been directly attributed to human activity, but the ameliorating climate may break down the barriers that have kept Antarctic wildlife relatively free of infectious diseases. Several agents of infectious diseases reported in Antarctic seabirds and seals are assessed for their likelihood to occur more frequently in terms of the characteristics of the agent, the behaviour of Antarctic wildlife, and the effects of an ameliorating climate (regional warming) in conjunction with continued increasing human activities.

High Resolution Spatial Mapping of Human Footprint across Antarctica and Its Implications for the Strategic Conservation of Avifauna

“…Chown and colleagues [1] evaluated the risk of biological invasions to the continent by mapping areas of human settlement and visitation and environments with climates suitable for potential invaders. Such locations could be also vulnerable to the introduction of disease microorganism [30]. The work of Chown and colleagues [1] indirectly provided a first insight on the extent of human footprint across the continent; however, the pressure metric applied was based purely on human densities, and related to other variables specifically directed to estimate the biological risk of non-native species establishment.…”

Antarctic Futures

“…Sewage discharged from stations is in most cases only lightly treated. Untreated sewage and other discharges from stations may introduce potential for disease transfer to environment (Barbosa and Palacios 2009; Grimaldi et al 2010;. Untreated sewage and other discharges from stations may introduce potential for disease transfer to environment (Barbosa and Palacios 2009; Grimaldi et al 2010;.…”

“…We expect an increased potential for disease and other species introductions due to the rapid transit of researchers and their field equipment and personal gear (Frenot et al , 2008Bergstrom et al 2006 and references therein;Grimaldi et al 2010). We expect an increased potential for disease and other species introductions due to the rapid transit of researchers and their field equipment and personal gear (Frenot et al , 2008Bergstrom et al 2006 and references therein;Grimaldi et al 2010).…”

“…Warming associated with climate change will increase the likelihood of establishment and expansion of non-native species (Turner et al 2009a;Grimaldi et al 2010) and the possibility of mutation of disease-causing agents currently present in Antarctic flora and fauna to more virulent forms. Increased mobility within Antarctica will also increase the potential for inadvertent transfer of native biota from one part of Antarctica elsewhere where they are alien .…”

Parasites of seabirds: A survey of effects and ecological implications

“…Recent research has provided an overview of some of these relationships (e.g. Granroth-Wilding et al, 2014;Provencher et al, 2017), whereas others, such as Grimaldi et al (2011), focused on the impact of parasites in specific bioregions and orders/genera. Except under extreme conditions where the presence of a parasite has a devastating impact causing widespread mortality (e.g.…”