Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger?
The high degree of isolation of Antarctica may well have protected its seals and birds from many of the diseases found in related species outside the continent. Our recent review of diseases in penguins has shown that birds taken into captivity are susceptible to a wide range of diseases, many of wh...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1995
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000472 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102095000472 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102095000472 2024-03-03T08:38:44+00:00 Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger? Kerry, Knowles Clarke, Judy 1995 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000472 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102095000472 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 7, issue 4, page 343-343 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 1995 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000472 2024-02-08T08:32:09Z The high degree of isolation of Antarctica may well have protected its seals and birds from many of the diseases found in related species outside the continent. Our recent review of diseases in penguins has shown that birds taken into captivity are susceptible to a wide range of diseases, many of which have not been recorded in the wild. The same situation presumably applies to Antarctic seals. Adélie penguins in Antarctica have been shown to have antibodies to Newcastle disease virus, avian influenza virus and the Chlamydia group of bacteria. From this we could infer that wild birds have had contact with these diseases but, in the cases of viral diseases at least, a more likely explanation could be that the antibodies are the result of cross-infection with related but benign viral strains. There is no evidence to date that any major exotic diseases have been introduced into the Antarctic ecosystem. However, unless non-pathogenic strains are present to provide cross-immunity, all birds and seals are likely to be highly susceptible to such introductions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Cambridge University Press Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Science 7 4 343 343 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Kerry, Knowles Clarke, Judy Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger? |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
The high degree of isolation of Antarctica may well have protected its seals and birds from many of the diseases found in related species outside the continent. Our recent review of diseases in penguins has shown that birds taken into captivity are susceptible to a wide range of diseases, many of which have not been recorded in the wild. The same situation presumably applies to Antarctic seals. Adélie penguins in Antarctica have been shown to have antibodies to Newcastle disease virus, avian influenza virus and the Chlamydia group of bacteria. From this we could infer that wild birds have had contact with these diseases but, in the cases of viral diseases at least, a more likely explanation could be that the antibodies are the result of cross-infection with related but benign viral strains. There is no evidence to date that any major exotic diseases have been introduced into the Antarctic ecosystem. However, unless non-pathogenic strains are present to provide cross-immunity, all birds and seals are likely to be highly susceptible to such introductions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kerry, Knowles Clarke, Judy |
author_facet |
Kerry, Knowles Clarke, Judy |
author_sort |
Kerry, Knowles |
title |
Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger? |
title_short |
Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger? |
title_full |
Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger? |
title_fullStr |
Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Time for concern: is the health of Antarctica's wildlife in danger? |
title_sort |
time for concern: is the health of antarctica's wildlife in danger? |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000472 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102095000472 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 7, issue 4, page 343-343 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000472 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
343 |
op_container_end_page |
343 |
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1792507184225976320 |