SCAR HPAI Update Bulletin – December 2024

Recommendations from the Joint COMNAP/SCAR Expert Group on Human Biology and Medicine (JEGHBM) (JEGHBM 2024)

The following recommendations have been made by the JEGHBM in relation to the risks associated with wildlife visitation and sampling.

• Maintain awareness around all wildlife. Lack of symptoms does not guarantee lack of infection.
• Human infection risk from a dead animal, without physical contact in an open space, is likely to be low.
• Maintain minimum approach distances to all Antarctic wildlife and keep distance from carcasses and any animal showing disease signs.
• DO NOT TOUCH/HANDLE sick or dead animals without authorisation and correct PPE.
• Avoid sitting/kneeling/lying on potentially contaminated ground.
• Implement biosecurity measures between sites of activity and intra-regionally, to prevent spread of any disease to other areas, wildlife, or to humans. Maintain strict hygiene and disinfection processes.
• Risk to a person from on-site necropsies (e.g., collection of internal tissues such as brain/lung) is high and thus not recommended by untrained personnel unequipped with PPE.
  • Necropsies/collection of internal organs MUST be collected by an appropriately trained person (e.g., Wildlife Veterinarian or wildlife biologist with experience in post-mortem tissue sampling of diseased wildlife) and wearing level 3 or above PPE.
• Collection of swabs (oral/cloacal) from dead animals should be collected by trained personnel wearing appropriate PPE. If avian, note high viral load present on feathers; preferably sampled within plastic bag to reduce high viral spread from feathers.
• As carcasses may remain infectious for long periods of time, do not touch or move carcasses. Any sampling should occur in-situ.
• It is recommended that anyone working in the Antarctic field has up-to-date seasonal influenza vaccination to prevent reassortment of human and avian influenza if co-infection were to occur.
• If a person has flu-like symptoms, they should not go into the field where animals are present. Encourage a good human attitude towards viral infections. If a person has a viral upper respiratory tract infection, then social distancing, use of face mask and hand hygiene is very important.