CAPE TOWN, 20 SEPT – Scientists in South Africa say they have identified an outbreak of rabies in seals in what is believed to be the first time the virus has spread to a marine mammal.
At least 24 Cape fur seals found dead or euthanized in various locations on the west and south coast of South Africa have rabies, said the country’s veterinarian, Dr Lesley van Helden.
Rabies, which infects mammals can be transmitted to humans, where it is mostly fatal. Rabies is spread through saliva, usually through bites but also through contact.
The virus has been around for a long time and infects animals such as raccoons, coyotes, foxes, wolves and domesticated dogs. But it has never been recorded as contagious among marine mammals, van Helden and other experts said recently.
The only other known case of rabies in a marine mammal was in a seal on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in the early 1980s. The seals were likely infected by a rabid arctic fox, the researchers said, and there is no evidence of rabies spreading among the seals.
Authorities in South Africa first discovered rabies in Cape seals last June after a dog was bitten by a seal on a Cape Town beach. The dog was infected with rabies, prompting a rabies test on brain samples from 135 seal carcasses that researchers have collected since 2021. About 20 new samples have also been collected and more positives have come back in subsequent tests.
Scientists are trying to find out how rabies is transmitted to seals, whether it spreads widely among their large colonies and what steps can be taken to contain it.
“It’s all very new,” said marine biologist Greg Hofmeyr, who studies seals in South Africa. “A lot of research is needed … there are a lot of unknowns here,” he added. – AP
