A polar bear found dead on Norway’s Svalbard has tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu, the first confirmed case in a polar bear in Norway and Europe, after the virus was also detected in a dead walrus nearby
A polar bear found dead has tested positive for the bird flu. This is the first time the virus has been confirmed in a polar bear in Norway and in Europe, according to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute (Veterinærinstituttet).
The H5N1 bird flu had already been worrying scientists as the virus topped the list of pandemic threats. Now, the institute reportedly said it was alerted after the Norwegian Polar Institute reported finding a dead polar bear and a dead walrus in Raudfjorden on Svalbard, Norway.
Tests later detected the avian influenza virus in a brain sample taken from the bear. The virus has previously been found on the archipelago in a walrus in 2023 and in Arctic foxes in 2025, the Veterinary Institute noted.
Following the latest discovery, samples were also taken to test for rabies, but “highly pathogenic avian influenza” (HPAI) was confirmed in samples from both the polar bear and the walrus, NRK reported. Tourist guides were the first to spot the dead animals, and they also reported seeing two polar bears nearby that were limping on their hind legs.
The Veterinary Institute said this can be a neurological sign, which has been seen before in predators infected with bird flu, according to NRK. “This made us suspect a serious infectious disease, and two of us from the Norwegian Veterinary Institute travelled to Svalbard to help the Governor (Sysselmesteren) with sampling the dead animals in the field,” veterinarian and wildlife health lead Knut Madslien said.
Madslien added: “Using a helicopter, the carcasses were quickly located and we were able to collect samples. We did not observe any more sick polar bears from the air.”
Historically, bird flu has rarely been confirmed in polar bears, as per NRK. The Veterinary Institute pointed to a report of a young male polar bear in Alaska in 2023, saying this means there is limited knowledge about how the virus affects individual bears or the wider population.
Polar bear expert Jon Aars at the Norwegian Polar Institute reportedly said the animal was known to researchers and was a one-year-old bear still with its mother. He noted that the virus has already been detected in walrus and Arctic foxes on Svalbard, making the finding “not very surprising”, but still notable, NRK reported.
“It’s not as if there are dead bears lying around everywhere, even though there have been major outbreaks in bird colonies and so on,” Aars said. “We actually think polar bears are relatively well equipped to cope with this.”
He said the key issue will be how the situation develops, particularly if older animals also become infected. “Polar bears are a long-lived species, so if the older, adult animals are affected, it will have major consequences for the population,” the researcher said.
Aars also said several polar bears had gathered around the dead walrus, meaning they were “highly likely” to have been exposed to infection.
“So now we just have to see whether they become ill from it or not,” he added.
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