Susceptibility of Grey (Halichoerus grypus) and Harp (Phoca groenlandica) Seals to the Influenza Virus and Mycoplasma of Epizootic Pneumonia of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina)

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Geraci ◽  
D. j. St. Aubin ◽  
I. K. Barker ◽  
V. S. Hinshaw ◽  
R. G. Webster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
New England ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Lung Homogenate ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Harbor Seals ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Phoca Groenlandica

Six grey, Halichoerus grypus, and 12 harp, Phoca groenlandica, seals were inoculated intratracheally with lung homogenate containing influenza virus A/seal/Mass/1/80 and mycoplasma from harbor seals, Phoca vitulina, which had died in an epizootic of pneumonia. The grey seals were refractory to infection, whereas some of the harp seals developed mild pneumonia. Virus was recovered from 4 of 10 harp seals necropsied, and antibodies were produced in 2 survivors. The mycoplasma given alone to 2 grey seals did not replicate or produce infection and was recovered from only 1 of 12 harp seals inoculated. We examined 99 grey, 102 harp, 14 harbor, and 7 hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) from eastern Canada and found antibodies to avian influenza A/seal/Mass/1/80 in 3 adult male grey seals from Sable Island, N.S.; this virus is apparently adaptable to other seal species. Related forms of the virus are highly suspect as the cause of past epizootics, and one is currently responsible for a new outbreak of pneumonia in New England harbor seals.

Mercury in Seals from Eastern Canada

1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 843-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Sergeant ◽  
F. A. J. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Small Pelagic Fish ◽  
Marine Food Web ◽  
Cystophora Cristata ◽  
Pagophilus Groenlandicus ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Marine Food

Mercury concentrations in the tissues of four species of seals from individual localities in eastern Canada were highest in liver (usually 1–100 ppm) but up to 387 ppm and lowest in blubber (usually 0.1 ppm). Levels in muscle ranged from < 0.16 to 2.35 ppm. Values similar to those in muscle were found in the few specimens of heart, intestine, and lungs analyzed, and higher values in kidney and hair. Ratios of mercury in the liver to that in the muscle for adult seals were much greater than those found in two species of freshwater fish and three species of domestic animals exposed to wide ranges of mercury concentrations in their food. The ratios for seal pups, however, resembled those in the other animals.Mercury in seals increased with age and appeared to vary with the position in the marine food web of the organisms which they eat. Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus), which feed on small pelagic fish and crustaceans, accumulated an order of magnitude less mercury than grey (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour (Phoca vitulina) seals, which live on large pelagic and benthic fish and cephalopods. However, grey and harbour seals are resident in eastern Canadian waters, which presumably contain higher mercury levels than arctic waters, where harp seals spend about half the year. Yet hood seals (Cystophora cristata), which spent more than half the year in arctic waters but feed on large fish and cephalopods, had mercury levels as high as grey and harbour seals.

scholarly journals Emergence of Fatal Avian Influenza in New England Harbor Seals

mBio ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Anthony ◽  
J. A. St. Leger ◽  
K. Pugliares ◽  
H. S. Ip ◽  
J. M. Chan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Avian Influenza ◽  
New England ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Harbor Seal ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Mammalian Host ◽  
Harbor Seals ◽  
Lectin Staining

ABSTRACTFrom September to December 2011, 162 New England harbor seals died in an outbreak of pneumonia. Sequence analysis of postmortem samples revealed the presence of an avian H3N8 influenza A virus, similar to a virus circulating in North American waterfowl since at least 2002 but with mutations that indicate recent adaption to mammalian hosts. These include a D701N mutation in the viral PB2 protein, previously reported in highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses infecting people. Lectin staining and agglutination assays indicated the presence of the avian-preferred SAα-2,3 and mammalian SAα-2,6 receptors in seal respiratory tract, and the ability of the virus to agglutinate erythrocytes bearing either the SAα-2,3 or the SAα-2,6 receptor. The emergence of this A/harbor seal/Massachusetts/1/2011 virus may herald the appearance of an H3N8 influenza clade with potential for persistence and cross-species transmission.IMPORTANCEThe emergence of new strains of influenza virus is always of great public concern, especially when the infection of a new mammalian host has the potential to result in a widespread outbreak of disease. Here we report the emergence of an avian influenza virus (H3N8) in New England harbor seals which caused an outbreak of pneumonia and contributed to a U.S. federally recognized unusual mortality event (UME). This outbreak is particularly significant, not only because of the disease it caused in seals but also because the virus has naturally acquired mutations that are known to increase transmissibility and virulence in mammals. Monitoring the spillover and adaptation of avian viruses in mammalian species is critically important if we are to understand the factors that lead to both epizootic and zoonotic emergence.

scholarly journals Serological Evidence of Influenza A Virus Infection in Kuril Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina stejnegeri) of Hokkaido, Japan

2007 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei FUJII ◽  
Chiharu KAKUMOTO ◽  
Mari KOBAYASHI ◽  
Sachiko SAITO ◽  
Tatsuya KARIYA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virus Infection ◽  
Influenza A Virus ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Harbor Seals ◽  
Serological Evidence ◽  
Influenza A Virus Infection

scholarly journals EPIZOOTIOLOGY OF MORBILLIVIRUS INFECTION IN NORTH AMERICAN HARBOR SEALS (PHOCA VITULINA) AND GRAY SEALS (HALICHOERUS GRYPUS)

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pádraig J. Duignan ◽  
Jeremiah T. Saliki ◽  
David J. St. Aubin ◽  
Greg Early ◽  
Samuel Sadove ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Harbor Seals ◽  
Gray Seals

Lungworm (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) infections in Canadian phocids

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 825-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Gosselin ◽  
Lena N Measures ◽  
Jean Huot
Keyword(s):  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Bearded Seal ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
New Host ◽  
Ringed Seals ◽  
Phoca Groenlandica ◽  
Harbour Seals ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Otostrongylus Circumlitus

Otostrongylus circumlitus (Railliet, 1899) was found in 5% (16/308) of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), 6% (1/17; intensity = 38) of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), and none of 100 harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) from eastern Canada and none of 31 ringed seals (Phoca hispida) from Holman, Northwest Territories. Eighty-two percent of these infections were observed in young-of-the-year seals. Filaroides (Parafilaroides) gymnurus (Railliet, 1899), detected in nodules in the superficial parenchyma of the lungs, infected 24% (5/16) of grey seals, 27% (4/15) of harbour seals, 57% (29/51) of harp seals, 81% (25/31) of ringed seals, and one stranded bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) (new host report for harp, ringed, and bearded seals; new locality report for Holman). Filaroides (Parafilaroides) hispidus Kennedy, 1986 was found in systematically sliced lungs of grey seals (2/3; new host report) and ringed seals (2/7) but not in harp seals (n = 11) or harbour seals (n = 5). Intensity ranged from 37 to 3570 for F. (P.) gymnurus and from 295 to 1196 for F. (P.) hispidus. No detrimental effect on body condition of seals could be associated with infection by lungworms.

Long-Chain Monoethylenic and Other Fatty Acids in Heart, Liver, and Blubber Lipids of Two Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) and One Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Ackman ◽  
S. N. Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Dietary Factors ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Harbor Seals ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Organ Specific ◽  
Long Chain ◽  
Fatty Acid Compositions

The fatty acids of triglycerides in the hearts from two harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and one grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) differed quantitatively in some details from those in the blubber. The 22:1 found in the heart triglycerides was about half that in the blubber triglycerides. Isomer distributions differed within 20:1 acids in the two triglycerides for both species, the higher proportion of 20:1ω11 fatty acid deposited in the heart than in the blubber indicating more active chain shortening from 22:1. The fatty acids of phospholipids of all three hearts and livers also differed quantitatively in some fatty acid details indicating organ-specific compositions. These also differed from compositions of similar lipids in terrestrial animals in their generally marine fatty acid compositions which were established for the blubbers. The grey seal (age 3 mo) showed unusual percentages of linoleic types of acids in the organ lipids and also a curious enrichment in ω7 monoethylenic acids. Dietary factors are believed to be responsible for differences between this animal and the two harbor seals (ages 10 and 23 mo).

scholarly journals Structural and Functional Analysis of Surface Proteins from an A(H3N8) Influenza Virus Isolated from New England Harbor Seals

2014 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 2801-2812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Yang ◽  
Ha T. Nguyen ◽  
Paul J. Carney ◽  
Zhu Guo ◽  
Jessie C. Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
New England ◽  
Receptor Binding ◽  
Influenza Virus Infection ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Harbor Seals ◽  
Binding Studies ◽  
Binding Preference ◽  
Major Surface

ABSTRACTIn late 2011, an A(H3N8) influenza virus infection resulted in the deaths of 162 New England harbor seals. Virus sequence analysis and virus receptor binding studies highlighted potential markers responsible for mammalian adaptation and a mixed receptor binding preference (S. J. Anthony, J. A. St Leger, K. Pugliares, H. S. Ip, J. M. Chan, Z. W. Carpenter, I. Navarrete-Macias, M. Sanchez-Leon, J. T. Saliki, J. Pedersen, W. Karesh, P. Daszak, R. Rabadan, T. Rowles, W. I. Lipkin, MBio 3:e00166-00112, 2012,http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00166-12). Here, we present a detailed structural and biochemical analysis of the surface antigens of the virus. Results obtained with recombinant proteins for both the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase indicate a true avian receptor binding preference. Although the detection of this virus in new species highlights an increased potential for cross-species transmission, our results indicate that the A(H3N8) virus currently poses a low risk to humans.IMPORTANCECross-species transmission of zoonotic influenza viruses increases public health concerns. Here, we report a molecular and structural study of the major surface proteins from an A(H3N8) influenza virus isolated from New England harbor seals. The results improve our understanding of these viruses as they evolve and provide important information to aid ongoing risk assessment analyses as these zoonotic influenza viruses continue to circulate and adapt to new hosts.

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