An increase in sick and deceased marine mammals, primarily sea lions, has been observed along the California coast, with the Marine Mammal Center reporting over 400 cases since June. Many animals are displaying symptoms of leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can be fatal. Experts are urging caution and advising dog owners to keep their pets away from marine animals.
Marine mammals are getting sick and dying in alarming numbers along the California coast, according to one marine rescue group that tracks such trends. More than 400 mammals have been reported stranded or sickened along the state’s central coast since June, according to the Marine Mammal Center, with more than two-thirds of them dying.
Many more likely died at sea or expired before anyone spotted them, the rescue group believes.story described an emaciated sea lion found on a beach north of Santa Cruz, the animal in a self-embrace from the bacteria that damages mammals’ kidneys and inflames their gastrointestinal tracks. “That’s a classic sign of lepto,” said Giancarlo Rulli, a spokesperson with the center, pointing to the young animal’s self-embrace. “They hold their stomach just like that. Like a sick child with a bellyache.” The disease can also be fatal for dogs. Since it is transmitted through contaminated water, experts urge Californians to keep their canines on leashes and not let them approach marine animals. The center rescues the sick sea lions and takes them in for examinations and diagnostic tests. The animals are treated with antibiotics and other drugs. It can take a few weeks to a few months for them to recover.“We’re trying to build our understanding of how ocean conditions relate to the occurrence of disease,” Jamie Lloyd-Smith, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at UCLA told theKatie Prager, a disease ecologist at UCLA said the first outbreak of leptospirosis in sea lions was reported along the West Coast in 1970. By the 1980s, marine groups were keeping comprehensive records. They found that the bacterium tends to cause small, annual outbreaks that start in late summer and last just a month or two, according to theEvery three to five years, however, they’d see a big outbreak in which scores of animals got sick, Rulli said. Lloyd-Smith and others say population dynamics likely drive the higher case years, such as when young animals come in contact with the bacteria.ICE Under Siege: Second Chicago Vehicle Attack in One DayMike Huckabee Marks 2nd Anniversary of October 7: Israel, Jews ‘Will Never Stand Alone’Macron’s Perma-Crisis: French Government Collapses… Again… Having Lasted Just 12 HoursChubb Insurance Is Woke, Radical, and Abandoning Its Customers
Marine Mammals Sea Lions Leptospirosis Disease Outbreak California Coast
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Marine Mammals Facing Deadly Disease Threats on the California CoastSource of breaking news and analysis, insightful commentary and original reporting, curated and written specifically for the new generation of independent and conservative thinkers.
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