"Our team has been so dedicated working around the clock, over time, whatever it takes to continue monitoring this outbreak. It's a really hard, emotional thing to go through as undergraduate, graduate students and young scientists to watch the seals that you've gotten to know over the years get sick."
"The elephant seal colony at Ano Nuevo state park is one of the most intensively studied in the world. We've gathered more than 380,000 observations of 55,000 seals, so we know an extraordinary amount about what's typical for those seals."
"This strain was catastrophic farther south, in Argentina, where the outbreak led to a 70% mortality rate among pups born during the 2023 breeding season."
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has caused the deaths of approximately 30 elephant seal pups at Ano Nuevo state park in California, prompting temporary closure of seal-viewing areas. The outbreak marks the first documented cases of HPAI H5N1 in California marine mammals. Researchers from UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz have intensified monitoring efforts since detecting the outbreak. Most deaths have been weaned pups. The mortality rate has remained relatively steady rather than increasing exponentially. This outbreak is significant for disease ecology research because the intensively studied elephant seal colony has 55 years of detailed monitoring data on 55,000 individual seals, providing unprecedented baseline information for understanding typical seal health patterns.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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