Amandine Gamble

Assistant Professor, Department of Public & Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine

Amandine Gamble is an assistant professor of public and ecosystem health at Cornell University and an expert on pathogens in endangered seabirds. She is currently in Australia and just published a piece on the Australian government’s decision to withdraw scientists from Macquarie Island as the threat of avian flu grows.

Gamble says:

“Recent genetic data suggest the virus did not arrive with migratory waterfowl travelling annually between Asia and Australia, but instead arrived with seabirds from the Southern Ocean, as scientists warned earlier this year in research led by Cornell University and collaborators.

“These outbreaks mark the loss of the last continent previously free from the virus. They also challenge the idea that the Southern Ocean is remote and disconnected from the rest of the world and its diseases.

“Beyond the symbolism of the virus reaching the last unaffected continent, there are serious concerns for wildlife in Australia, New Zealand and surrounding islands, which are home to many already vulnerable endemic species.

“As the last region to be affected, Australia and New Zealand have had time to develop response plans, now being put into action. This includes everything from wildlife vaccination trials to broader efforts to strengthen the resilience of wild animal populations.”