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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

USA, California : Wild Northern Elephant Seals Exposed to H1N1 Influenza

Article via Decoded Science, excerpt :

Researchers have found swine flu in elephant seals – what does this mean for the seal population?

Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) from the central California coast showed evidence of H1N1 influenza A virus infection and exposure in 2010 and 2011. 
This is the first time we’ve seen pandemic H1N1 in marine mammals, and the first avian influenza infection detected in marine mammals on the West Coast of the United States.
No seals showed clinical signs of disease and virus was isolated in only two cases, however a number of other animals had antibodies to H1N1.

H1N1 Virus Isolated From Two Adult Female Elephant Seals

Between 2009 to 2011, a survey for influenza A virus along the Pacific coast from Alaska to California tested nasal swabs from more than 900 marine mammals of ten different species."

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