QUESTION:
I would like to know do penquins get sick? What germs make 
them sick?

        Jacob W.,  Second grader at J.J. Fray Elementary School
        Restburg, Virginia

ANSWER from Carol Vleck, Environmental Physiologist
            Palmer Station, Antarctica
            Thu, 13 Feb 1997 09:12:15 -0600

Hi Jacob,

Yes, penguins get sick sometimes in the wild although it is very rare to
see a penguin that looks sick.  They also have some parasites like ticks,
lice and fleas. Penguins also can get avian (that means bird) flu, avian
cholera, or tuberculosis.  One of the diseases that penguins get is
Newcastle disease which is caused by a virus and is a very bad disease if
it invades a poultry farm in the United States.  That is one reason why we
have to be very careful to keep any penguin samples that we take home in a
safe place where any germs in them can't spread to other birds at home.
These diseases can't harm people for the most part, though, and we have
never gotten any diseases from the penguins.

Thanks for your question!

Carol Vleck