Polar bear dies from bird flu as H5N1 spreads across globe

Current outbreak, which started in 2021, is estimated to have killed millions of wild birds and thousands of mammals globally

A polar bear has been killed by bird flu as the highly contagious H5N1 virus spreads into the most remote parts of the planet.

The death was confirmed in December by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. “This is the first polar bear case reported, for anywhere,” Dr Bob Gerlach, Alaska’s state veterinarian, told the Alaska Beacon.