gene constellations; an expanded host range in avian species and the ability to infect felids; enhanced pathogenicity in experimentally infected mice and ferrets, in which they cause systemic infections; and increased environmental stability." The New York Times, in an article on transmission of H5N1 through smuggled birds, reports Wade Hagemeijer of Wetlands International stating, "We believe it is spread by both bird migration and trade, but that trade, particularly illegal trade, is more important". On September 29, 2007, researchers reported the H5N1 bird flu virus can also pass through a pregnant woman's placenta to infect the fetus. They also found evidence of what doctors had long suspected—the virus not only affects the lungs, but also passes throughout the body into the gastrointestinal tract, the brain, liver, and blood cells. In May 2013, North Korea confirmed a H5N1 bird flu outbreak that forced authorities to kill over 160,000 ducks in Pyongyang. Regional and global outbreaks 2021–2022 outbreaks in Europe/Atlantic flyway Over the winter of 2021 and 2022 avian flu spread among the population of barnacle geese on the Solway Firth, UK, with estimates of up to a third of the Svalbard population being lost; pink-footed geese were also affected there and it seems carried the virus to new sites in northern Scotland. The disease was confirmed in sandwich terns in South Africa in April 2022. In late spring 2022 avian flu outbreaks affected many species of wild bird in the United Kingdom, with heavy losses reported among seabirds returning to breed at colonies in the Northern Isles and Outer Hebrides, including great skuas (bonxie) for which outbreaks had initially been reported in 2021 (Scotland hosts c. 60% of the world's breeding population) - the 2022 census on St Kilda showed a 64% decline on 2019 with 106 dead birds recorded so far (to 6 June), gannets (1000+ birds reported dead at the Shetlands' Hermaness colony alone, where there are around 26,000 breeding pairs), with many more gannets being reported dead at other colonies (Troup Head, Bass Rock, and St Kilda); the range of species also seems to be expanding, with reports for many species of wildfowl, seabirds (auks, terns and gulls) and scavenging species (corvids and raptors). Elsewhere in Europe the virus killed hundreds (574+) of Dalmatian pelicans in Greece, and in Israel around 6000 common cranes were found dead at Hula in December 2021. A report by Scientific Task Force