Seven elephant seal pupshave tested positive for avian flu atCalifornia's Año Nuevo State Park,after scientists noticed several seals showing abnormal respiratory and neurological signs.
Scientists atUC Santa Cruz,UC Davis, and theU.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratoryconfirmed the outbreak late Tuesday evening, marking thefirst outbreak of HPAI H5N1 in marine mammals in California, according to apress release from UC Davis.
"This is exceptionally rapid detection of an outbreak in free-ranging marine mammals," said Professor Christine Johnson, director of theInstitute for Pandemic Insightsat theUC Davis' Weill School of Veterinary Medicine."We have most likely identified the very first cases here because of coordinated teams that have been on high alert with active surveillance for this disease for some time."
In response to this outbreak, theAño Nuevo State Park has temporarily closedaccess to the elephant seal viewing area for the rest of the season. The park will provide refunds to any tourists who booked a spot to view the seals.
The state park's marine education center, horse barn movie theater, and a portion of the Año Nuevo Point Trail will remain open at this time,according to the park's website.
This is not the first timethe disease has been detected in an elephant seal population; in 2023, southern elephant seals in Argentina were affected by it. The disease decimatedsouthern elephant seals, as hundreds of dead pups appeared along the Patagonian coast of Argentina.
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After the avian flu killed hundreds ofsouthern elephant seals, scientists at UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis increased disease surveillance of the population in North America, out of concern that the disease might spread along the American coastlines.
"Given the catastrophic impacts observed in related species, we were concerned about the possibility of the virus infecting northern elephant seals for the first time, so we ramped up monitoring to detect any early signs of abnormalities," said Roxanne Beltran, a professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz.Beltran's lableads UC Santa Cruz's northern elephant seal research program at Año Nuevo.
The avian flu wasfirst reported in Canada in December 2021, after the virus was detected in wild birds in every province and territory. However, UC scientistsbelieve this is the first detection of avianflu among thenorthern elephant sealpopulation.
The risk of the avian flu transmitting to the general public is very low; the disease can spread between animals and people. Scientists recommend avoiding areas with infected animals, not touching live or dead seals, and not allowing pets to approach them.
If a person encounters a sick, injured, or dead marine mammal in California, Oregon, or Washington, call the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region Stranding Hotline: (866) 767-6114.
Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him atnpadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadillaor on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.Sign up for theTODAY Californian newsletteror follow us on Facebook atTODAY Californian.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Seven elephant seals test positive for bird flu at California beach
