The Antarctic continent has been relatively isolated from human impact due to its remote location and extreme environment. The first human contact with the continent was made by explorers and sealers of the nineteenth century's who were followed by explorers and scientists of the twentieth century. In the past thirty years, there has been an increase in human presence in Antarctica through tourism. A concern has been the potential introduction of wildlife diseases in Antarctica through the increase in human presence. Birds in the wild are susceptible to an array of infectious and parasitic diseases, but clinical signs of disease are relatively obvious and disease is generally diagnosed post mortem. The diagnosis of disease in Antarctic birds in the wild is hampered by the lack of information on both the diseases themselves and on what is normal and what is pathological. There are few cases in Antarctica where die-offs have been observed and could be attributed to disease. Few clinical investigations have sampled healthy birds. Research to date has confirmed the presence of infectious agents in Antarctic penguins, but pathology has not been confirmed, nor has the source of the agents. Besides the potential of introduction via humans, the South Polar skua is a strong candidate as a source of introduction of disease in the Antarctic environment. Skuas are scavengers and predators, which frequent the vicinity of stations and ships and prey on penguins and other birds at colony sites. More significantly, skuas migrate outside Antarctica during the winter. This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will examine previously collected blood samples of both penguins and skuas to determine the presence of bacteria and viral diseases, parasites, and antibodies to infectious agents. In conjunction with Australia scientists, a reference collection of sera as well as viruses, bacteria, and parasites will be established. This will provide a valuable baseline for future studies of wildlife diseases in Antarctica.
