Dagestan, Russia: Bird flu in seals
Source:
https://vesma.today/news/post/46021-pogibshie-v-kaspiyskom-more-nerpy-
Today, January 25
The seals that died in the Caspian Sea were infected with bird flu, Dagestan scientists found out
Dead seals found on the Caspian coast turned out to be infected with the bird flu virus, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the press service of the Dagestan State University.
"Preliminary studies of the mass mortality of Caspian seals showed that the animals were infected with avian influenza.
At the same time, it is too early to conclude that it was the virus that caused the death, research is ongoing," said Alimurad Hajiyev, director of the Institute of Ecology and Sustainable Development of DSU.
He noted that in the spring and summer of last year, on one of the main Caspian seal rookeries, Maly Zhemchuzhny Island, a mass death of a wild bird from a highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which is safe for humans, was recorded.
“We think that this could also happen with the Caspian seal, since there is evidence that there is an outbreak of this strain all over the world. Animals, including marine mammals, are dying from it. Even bears in Alaska are dying from bird flu,” he added. scientist.
Recall
in early December, 2,500 carcasses of the Caspian seal were found on the coast of the Caspian Sea in Dagestan. Initially, various versions of the cause of the mass death were put forward, including oxygen starvation, which could be caused by the release of methane as a result of seismic activity.
The Caspian seal is a unique representative of the true seal family, the only marine mammal in the fauna of the Caspian Sea.
In length reaches 160 centimeters, body weight - up to 100 kilograms. Feeding mainly on fish, the seal is at the top of the food pyramid and has no natural enemies as adults.
As noted in the Ministry of Natural Resources, now the number of Caspian seals is stable: from 270 to 300 thousand individuals.
