British scientists said Thursday that they discovered avian influenza, or bird flu, in mammals near Antarctica for the first time. The pathogen was detected in elephant seals and fur seals, the UK government’s Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA) in London announced. The virus was also detected in Dominican gulls and Antarctic terns. It had tested animals on the island of South Georgia, which lies in the southern Atlantic on the same latitude as Tierra del Fuego, for the H5N1 virus after several brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus) were found dead there in October. The virus was likely introduce…