Seals with rabies attack people in South Africa

Growing problems in the country • Even dogs have been attacked • “A way you rarely see”

Aggressive seals are a growing problem in South Africa.
On several occasions, both people, dogs and other seals have been attacked.
Now researchers believe that the behavior may be due to the fact that rabies is spreading in the seal population.

It was three years ago that researchers in South Africa noticed an aberrant pattern in the native fur seal, which is usually a tourist magnet. Seals were found dead along the coastline and females had stillborn pups. Now the researchers believe they have the answer to what is wrong with the usually playful mammal. Several cases of rabies have been found in the fur seal population.

– A rabies outbreak in a marine mammal has never been documented before, says Tess Gridley, founder of Sea Search Research and Conservation to Deep Sea Reporter.

72 seal attacks since 2021

A total of 17 seals have been found to be infected with the virus and since 2021, 72 seal attacks, in which people have been bitten or mauled, have been reported in South Africa. In eight of those cases, the seals have later been confirmed to have rabies, write The New York Times.

– The seals were not only aggressive – they pursued the public in a way that you rarely see wild animals do, says Tess Gridley about the seals’ behavior.

Concern that the infection is spreading

She describes the spread of the infection as a viral outbreak and now sees it as the top priority to try to limit the infection from reaching other marine mammals. If the infection reaches Antarctic seal populations, it cannot be monitored, she explains.

Rabies is a fatal and incurable disease that can affect all mammals, including humans, and is spread through the saliva of infected individuals. So far, no human has been infected by the virus after a seal attack.

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