Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don’t see a clear way to slow the devastating virus.
FILE - A gray seal swims in Casco Bay, off Portland, Maine, in this Sept. 15, 2020 file photo. Seal die-offs from the bird flu have been detected everywhere from New England to Chile. – Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don't see a clear way to slow the devastating virus.
Many species affected, such as South American sea lions and Southern elephant seals, have relatively stable populations, but scientists worry about the possibility of the virus jumping to. Scientists have said bird flu might have played a role in the deaths of hundreds of endangered Caspian seals in Russia last year.
“Marine mammals are still pretty unique in the scale of the outbreaks that are occurring,” said Wendy Puryear, an author of the Tufts study. “One of the connections is there is a lot of virus that circulates in coastal birds. A lot of opportunities for those wild birds to host the virus and pass it on to marine mammals.”
“Authorities have carried out campaigns about the disease, strongly recommending to stay away from seabirds or marine mammals with symptoms or found dead in the coastal areas,” van der Meer said.
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