PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Elephant seal colony declines one year after avian flu outbreak

Study chronicles first report of ‘bird flu’ transmission between marine mammals

Elephant seal colony declines one year after avian flu outbreak
2024-11-11
(Press-News.org) The sounds of barking elephant seals are again in the air along the breeding grounds of Península Valdés, Argentina—but it’s quieter. Almost exactly a year after a massive outbreak of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza killed more than 17,000 elephant seals, including about 97% of their pups, scientists estimate that only about a third of the elephant seals normally expected here returned.

“It’s beautiful to walk the beaches now and hear elephant seals again,” said Marcela Uhart, director of the Latin America Program at the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center within the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “At the same time, we’re walking among piles of carcasses and bones, and seeing very few elephant seal harems, so it’s still disturbing.”

A study, published today in the journal Nature Communications and co-led by UC Davis and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) in Argentina provides evidence of mammal-to-mammal transmission during the 2023 outbreak. It found that H5N1 spread efficiently among marine mammals. The outbreak in elephant seals was a stepping stone amid the first transnational spread of the virus in these species, extending across five countries in southern South America. 

The study’s genomic analysis further found that, upon entering South America, the virus evolved into separate avian and marine mammal clades, which is unprecedented. 

“We’re showing the evolution of H5N1 viruses that belong to genotype B3.2 over time since their introduction in South America in late 2022,” said virologist and co-leading author Agustina Rimondi of INTA and currently also with Robert Koch Institute. “This virus is capable of adapting to marine mammal species, as we can see from the mutations that are consistently found in the viruses belonging to this clade. Very importantly, our study also shows that H5 marine mammal viruses are able to jump back to birds, highlighting the need for increased surveillance and research cooperation in the region.” 

Elephant seal census The Wildlife Conservation Society in Argentina (WCS Argentina) estimated the population of returning elephant seals as part of a decades-long monitoring project.

“We were totally appalled by the dramatic impact of the epidemic of avian influenza on this population,” said co-author Valeria Falabella, WCS Argentina director of coastal and marine conservation. “It is likely that more than half of the reproductive population died due to the virus. It will take decades before the numbers are back to the 2022 population size.” 

Falabella said the epidemic reversed decades of conservation efforts for the species, adding that most of the adult males and many of the most experienced and fertile females have not returned. 

Tracking and monitoring the virus among elephant seals is a collaborative effort. As WCS Argentina conducts its census, Uhart and colleagues from UC Davis document and sample every animal that dies for signs of H5N1, and Rimondi and colleagues test and sequence them at the Institute of Virology, INTA. 

So far, no elephant seals have tested positive this breeding season. Yet lingering questions remain from last year’s outbreak. For instance, scientists do not know if the virus was transmitted by aerosol, saliva, feces or other means, or if surviving animals have built resistance via protective antibodies. Such questions remain highly relevant.

Over the past year, the virus has been widespread in wild birds and has caused outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, with recent cases reported among dairy and poultry workers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the first H5N1 case in swine in the United States on Oct. 30. There is no known human-to-human spread of H5N1.

A virus’ journey The current variant of H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b began to cause problems at a global scale in 2020. While humans confronted the COVID-19 pandemic, H5N1 began killing tens of thousands of seabirds in Europe before moving to South Africa. In 2021, it entered the United States and Canada, threatening poultry and wild birds, and spread to South America in late 2022.

By February 2023, highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in Argentina for the first time, affecting poultry primarily in inland central Argentina for five months. By August 2023, after two months of no outbreaks in poultry, the virus appeared in sea lions at the tip of South America off the Atlantic coastline of Tierra del Fuego island. From there, it moved swiftly northward, with deadly results, first for marine mammals and later for seabirds.

In October 2023, following outbreaks in sea lions, the study authors surveyed the breeding colony of elephant seals at Punta Delgada along the coast of Península Valdés, recording unprecedented mass mortality. Test results confirmed that HPAI H5N1 was present in the seals, as well as in several terns that died at the same time. 

The authors said continued monitoring and investigation is critically important to better understand the virus’ evolution. Its increased flexibility to adapt to new hosts could have global consequences for human health, wildlife conservation and ecosystems. 

The study’s co-authors include Ralph Vanstreels of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine; Martha Nelson of National Institutes of Health; Valeria Olivera of INTA-CONICET; Julieta Campagna, Victoria Zavattieri, Claudio Campagna of WCS Argentina; and Philippe Lemey of Rega Institute in Belgium.

The study was funded by the WCS Argentina, UC Davis and National Institute of Agricultural Technology.

A news release following a preprint of the study was distributed on June 5, 2024.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Elephant seal colony declines one year after avian flu outbreak Elephant seal colony declines one year after avian flu outbreak 2 Elephant seal colony declines one year after avian flu outbreak 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

While more is better, even moderate amounts of exercise may reduce risk for common heart condition

2024-11-11
Adding an extra hour every week of physical activity may lower the chance of developing the most common type of irregular heartbeat (arrythmia) by 11%, a new study shows. Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the investigation focused on atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart’s upper two chambers beat rapidly and irregularly instead of at a consistent pace. If left untreated, this can lead to stroke, heart failure, and other issues. While past studies have linked exercise to reduced risk of this type of arrhythmia, nearly all of these analyses have relied on the participants’ ...

Researchers uncover new role of mutant proteins in some of the deadliest cancers

Researchers uncover new role of mutant proteins in some of the deadliest cancers
2024-11-11
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators have discovered a new way in which RAS genes, which are commonly mutated in cancer, may drive tumor growth beyond their well-known role in signaling at the cell surface. Mutant RAS, they found, helps to kick off a series of events involving the transport of specific nuclear proteins that lead to uncontrolled tumor growth, according to a study published November 11, 2024, in Nature Cancer. RAS genes are the second most frequently mutated genes in cancer, and mutant RAS proteins are key drivers of some of the deadliest cancers, ...

Patients may become unnecessarily depressed by common heart medicine

Patients may become unnecessarily depressed by common heart medicine
2024-11-11
All patients who have had a heart attack are typically treated using beta blockers. According to a Swedish study conducted earlier this year, this drug is unlikely to be needed for those heart patients who have a normal pumping ability. Now a sub-study at Uppsala University shows that there is also a risk that these patients will become depressed by the treatment. “We found that beta blockers led to slightly higher levels of depression symptoms in patients who had had a heart attack but were not suffering from heart failure. At the same time, beta blockers have no life-sustaining function for this group of patients,” says Philip Leissner, a doctoral student in cardiac ...

Largest T cell clinical trial in solid tumors heralds new era in precision immunotherapy

2024-11-11
The largest ever clinical trial of T cell therapy (a type of cell-based immunotherapy) for solid tumours has been completed. Led by a Singapore clinician-investigator, the global, international, multisite trial recruited 330 advanced nasopharyngeal (NPC) cancer patients in 23 sites across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and the United States. The trial did not show an overall survival benefit for the entire patient cohort but a subset analysis combining outcomes of US, Singapore and Taiwanese sites, showed better progression free survival ...

Call for applications: Participation in the 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum for Outstanding Young Researchers in Mathematics and Computer Science

Call for applications: Participation in the 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum for Outstanding Young Researchers in Mathematics and Computer Science
2024-11-11
The application process for the 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum has begun! Young researchers in mathematics and computer science from all over the world can apply for one of the 200 exclusive spots to participate in the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF), an annual networking conference. The HLF offers all accepted young researchers the unique opportunity to interact with the laureates of the most prestigious prizes in the fields of mathematics and computer science. Traditionally, the recipients of the Abel Prize, the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the ACM Prize in Computing, ...

A milestone for reproductive medicine: Producing viable eggs from undeveloped oocytes through In vitro technology

A milestone for reproductive medicine: Producing viable eggs from undeveloped oocytes through In vitro technology
2024-11-11
Mature egg cells, or oocytes, are essential for fertilization in assisted reproductive technologies. However, some ‘denuded’ oocytes, or those lacking the protective granulosa cell layer, fail to mature. Now, in a new study by researchers at Shinshu University, the team has developed a method to culture mature oocytes from these denuded oocytes in the lab. This innovative approach holds promise for overcoming significant challenges in reproductive science, marking a major advancement in fertility research. Assisted ...

Vast majority of Trump voters believe American values and prosperity are ‘under threat’

2024-11-11
Almost nine out of ten voters who supported Donald Trump for US President believe that America’s values, traditions and future economic prosperity are under threat – double the number of Kamala Harris supporters.  This is according to new data from Cambridge University’s Political Psychology lab, who worked with YouGov to conduct an opinion poll of US voters shortly before the election.* Some 89% of Trump voters agree that “American values and beliefs are being undermined and cherished traditions are under threat” compared ...

Scientists investigate if red grape chemical can keep bowel cancer at bay

2024-11-11
Cancer Research UK-funded scientists are finding out if an ingredient commonly found in grape juice and wine could keep bowel cancer at bay. Resveratrol – a naturally occurring ingredient found in grapes, blueberries, raspberries and peanuts – will be tested as a potential cancer prevention drug as part of the Cancer Research UK-funded COLO-PREVENT trial. The trial is led from the University of Leicester and the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre. The trial ...

The refrigerator as a harbinger of a better life

2024-11-09
To get a good sense of a country’s level of development, you need to look at the items people have in their homes, according to economists Rutger Schilpzand and Jeroen Smits from Radboud University. Research on low- and middle-income countries often focuses on income, health or education, but that doesn’t tell you the full story of a country’s situation. ‘That’s why, for the first time, we are mapping out how the material wealth of households is developing,’ Schilpzand explains. The researchers coin this material wealth growth for households the 'domestic transition'. ...

Windfall profits from oil and gas could cover climate payments

2024-11-09
A central issue at the UN Climate Change Conference, set to start on November 11, will be the negotiations on new payments from industrialized nations to poorer countries. However, the question of whether and how these payments will be financed remains highly controversial. The study by an international team of researchers, with participation by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has now revealed: The windfall profits alone taken in by oil and gas companies due to the 2022 energy crisis would have been sufficient to cover the existing commitments of the industrialized nations for nearly five years. The researchers ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

From traditional to technological: Advancements in fresco conservation

Design and imagination as essential tools during the climate crisis

Innovating archaeology: HKU scholars utilize immersive 3D tech to document and study the human past

What's the story, morning glory?

The unsolved mystery sounds of the Southern Ocean #ASA187

These wild chimpanzees play as adults to better cooperate as a group

Physical activity and all-cause mortality by age in 4 multinational megacohorts

Prenatal diet and infant growth from birth to age 24 months

Obesity prevention at an early age

New method for designing artificial proteins

MSU expert: How AI can help people understand research and increase trust in science

​​​​​​​Urgent need to enable more farmers and contractors to revive England’s network of hedgerows

ASH inclusion program retained and engaged hematologists underrepresented in field, 20-year analysis shows

How anti-obesity drugs are linked to food waste

Discovery explains kidney damage caused by blood pressure drugs

NYU Langone performs world’s first fully robotic double lung transplant

APSS accepting sleep and circadian research abstracts and session proposals for SLEEP 2025 in Seattle

DNA repair: A look inside the cell’s ‘repair café’

Astronomers take the first close-up picture of a star outside our galaxy

Here’s something Americans agree on: Sports build character

Engineering nature’s blueprint: Dendron-based assemblies for chlorophyll’s materials

Study reveals how cell types shape human brain networks

New genetic explanation for heart condition revealed

Poor mental health linked to browsing negative content online

People with migraine at high risk of depression during pandemic

Climate-driven hazards increases risk for millions of coastal residents, study finds

Females sleep less, awaken more frequently than males

Most Americans want primary care providers to address mental health

Millions of Americans hurt by others’ drinking, drug use: study

Plasma-derived atomic hydrogen advances low-temperature CO2 methanation at high yield

[Press-News.org] Elephant seal colony declines one year after avian flu outbreak
Study chronicles first report of ‘bird flu’ transmission between marine mammals