Bird to mammal (including humans) Avian Flu transmission has been happening for years [centuries, millennia?]. It's mammal to mammal H5N1 spread that would get frightening. And especially respiratory transmission. That said, it doesn't sound like the Walrus got it from another mammal or that it became a buffet for a polar bear or ten.
From The Barents Observer, April 30:
“The main concern is that the virus could jump on humans and cause a new pandemic”, scientists warn.
The first case of a walrus dying from bird flu has been detected on Hopen Island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Christian Lydersen, senior scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute told the Barents Observer on Tuesday, April 30.
According to Lydersen, the samples from the dead walrus were collected last year on Svalbard by Håvard Lervik Hansen from The Norwegian Meteorological Institute, who used just ordinary q-tips to take samples from the eyes, nose, and mouth of a dead walrus. The samples were then sent by Lydersen’s team to a lab in Germany, where the virus was detected.
“Walruses eat birds and last year there were a lot of dead birds in Norway because of the bird flu.”, Christian Lydersen said and added that there is a high probability that some other groups of dead walruses also could be infected with the bird flu:
“Last year we got several reports from tourists and scientists that they saw around six walruses dead here on the west side of Svalbard. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sample them as the dead walruses drifted away by the time we got to the place. But it’s not normal to get so many reported dead walruses in such a small area. Walruses tend to lie on top of each other. So if one has the bird flu, there is a very good chance that the flu was spread to others.”....
....MUCH MORE
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