‘Unprecedented’: How bird flu became an animal pandemic

In the handful of human cases seen so far it has been extremely deadly.

• India Bourke
• ΒΒΨ

The tips of Lineke Begeman’s fingers are still numb from a gruelling mission.

In March, the veterinary pathologist was part of an international expedition to Antarctica’s Northern Weddell Sea, studying the spread of High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), the virus that has now encircled the globe, causing the disease known as bird flu.

Cutting into the frozen bodies of wild birds that the team collected, Begeman was able to help establish whether they had died from the disease.

The conditions were harsh and…