Avian flu has decimated the marine creatures on the country’s Pacific coastline and scientists fear it could be jumping from mammal to mammal
. Infected birds wobble along public beaches unafraid of the crowds of beachgoers enjoying the summer sunshine.
“The fact that the virus is not only in birds but also in mammals means it is potentially risky for the public,” says Ayala. “It is currently being seen in different species of mammals, so we must take precautions in order to avoid another pandemic for humans.”lontra felina“If the sample from this otter is positive, it would be the first case of influenza in this species [in Peru],” she says. Later, test results prove inconclusive because the animal has been dead for too long.
The mass die-off of sea lions suggests that there might be mammal-to-mammal transmission, though we cannot confirm thatWhile the virus has mainly infected sea lions, a dead dolphin has also tested positive, and, in February, a lion died from the virus in a zoo in Huancayo, a city in the Andes. Just weeks later, Peru’s agricultural health service,, announced a health emergency until the end of the year; prohibiting the unauthorised movement of live poultry, and banning cockfights.
Scientists are worried not just that the virus has jumped from birds to mammals but that mammal-to-mammal transmission might be a possibility. “The mass die-off of sea lions suggests that there might be mammal-to-mammal transmission, though we cannot confirm that,” says Mariana Leguia, who runs the Genomics Laboratory at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima, which has been analysing samples gathered along the country’s coast since November. “Obviously, that is concerning because this is a virus with pathogenic potential for humans.
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