<
https://theconversation.com/we-dont-know-how-well-threatened-species-fight-off-bird-flu-but-we-need-to-288920>
"Lethal bird flu is now spreading in Australia. This is bad news for many
native species.
New federal government analysis suggests close to one in five Australian bird
and mammal species is at high, very high or extreme risk. But this risk
assessment omits something vital – how genetically well-equipped the species is
to fight the virus.
While species such as black swans are likely to be very hard-hit, others such
as wild ducks are expected to be less affected. One reason for this is
different immune systems – some are more or less able to fight the virus. But
there’s a more significant factor – how much variation there is in key immune
system genes across populations.
Right now, we don’t have an overview of which threatened species are at highest
risk based on this. If we urgently create a national immune-risk map for
species at risk, we can act to protect those in most danger."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
