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Over 17,000 southern elephant sealing wax pups — accounting for 95 % of the puppy born last year — have pall from a extremely virulent strain of H5N1 , known as fowl flu , in a aggregative expiry event on the Valdés Peninsula in Argentina .
The chick influenza irruption was officially confirmed by the Argentine Government Animal Health Service ( SENASA ) , elevate concerns among conservationists and scientists that the virus had mutate to be transmissible from mammal - to - mammal .
Over 95% of southern elephant seal pups born last year have died from bird flu.
" I started to work with these animal in the ' 70s , and I have never seen something like this . Nobody has seen something like this,“Claudio Campagna , a preservation researcher at the Wildlife Conservation Society ( WCS ) in Argentina and lead author of a new study on the mass die off , tell apart Live Science .
In the paper , release Dec. 25 in the journalMarine Mammal Science , the researchers report a " ruinous " mortality rate of southern elephantsealpups ( Mirounga leonina ) in November 2023 . These pup are usually born from September to November and stay with their female parent for around three week .
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Scientists believe virus was transmitted between the seal pups, rather than through contact with infected dead birds or their fecal matter.
Field data point was taken from three orbit along Valdés Peninsula , which consist of about 310 miles ( 500 kilometers ) of coastline . " We found that 96 % of pups in sample areas had break down , and we know that in 2022 , about 18,000 were bear so virtually all production was lost , " Campagna said .
The investigator do n’t yet acknowledge how adult elephant Navy SEAL populations have been touch by the virus , but the theme commemorate 46 adult dying in a high - denseness beach , where a unmarried decease during a distinctive year would be rare .
septic creature show neurological and respiratory symptom , such as head tremor , adenoidal discharge and a deficiency of coordination .
The researcher are now considering that transmissions are happen between mammals . scientist had antecedently sham that mammals were being infected from contact lens with doll through fecal issue or their dead carcasses . But Campagna head out that pup mainly breastfeed from their mothers , and therefore would not be eat up septic birds . Mammal - to - mammal transmission " is how you’re able to excuse such a tumid act of idle pups , " he say .
The same computer virus is responsible for forother mass deathrate eventsin South America , admit thousand of sea social lion decease in Peru , Chile , Argentina , Uruguay and Brazil .
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Campagna said it is also potential that the virus made the mammal - to - mammal jump when it was passed from sea Leo colony to elephant seals .
The mass expiry of seal whelp could impact the population for years to come . Southern elephant seals take an norm of three to six class to sexually ripen , meaning colonies may face drastically boil down numbers in 2026 to 2027 , when fewer adolescent seals can be recruited into the breeding universe .
The WCS be after to count the intact universe in September . " Then , we will have an accurate number of females that are left , " Campagna said . " Perhaps it will be good news show and the mortality is not run to be that eminent . "
