Pinnipeds and avian influenza
© Published by Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 26 June 2024.
Alimurad Gadzhiev (1), Guy Petherbridge (1, 2),* Kirill Sharshov (3), Ivan Sobolev (3), Alexander Alekseev (1, 3), Marina Gulyaeva (4), Kirill Litvinov (5), Ivan Boltunov (6), Abdulgamid Teymurov (1), Alexander Zhigalin (1), Madina Daudova (1), Alexander Shestopalov (3).
(1) Institute of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Dagestan State University, Makhachkala, Russia.
(2) Caspian Centre for Nature Conservation, International Institute of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Association of Universities and Research Centers of Caspian Region States, Makhachkala, Russia.
(3) Research Institute of Virology, Federal Research Centre for Fundamental and Translational Medicine, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.
(4) Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia.
(5) Laboratory of Ecological and Biological Research, Astrakhan State Nature Biosphere Reserve, Astrakhan, Russia.
(6) Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
E-mail: caspianconservation@mail.ru (Guy Petherbridge).
Pinnipeds and avian influenza: a global timeline and review of research on the impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza on pinniped populations with particular reference to the endangered Caspian seal (Pusa caspica)
Abstract
This study reviews chronologically the international scientific and health management literature and resources relating to impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses on pinnipeds in order to reinforce strategies for the conservation of the endangered Caspian seal (Pusa caspica), currently under threat from the HPAI H5N1 subtype transmitted from infected avifauna which share its haul-out habitats. Many cases of mass pinniped deaths globally have occurred from HPAI spill-overs, and are attributed to infected sympatric aquatic avifauna. As the seasonal migrations of Caspian seals provide occasions for contact with viruses from infected migratory aquatic birds in many locations around the Caspian Sea, this poses a great challenge to seal conservation. These are thus critical locations for the surveillance of highly pathogenic influenza A viruses, future reassortment of which may present a pandemic threat to humans.
Read more on Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology web-site.
In the top photo: Malyy Zhemchuzhnyy Island, the Northern Caspian, Russia. Credited by A.A. Gadzhiev, Ph.D. in Biology, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Innovation Work, Dagestan State University, Makhachkala, Russia.
