August 24, 2018 — Researchers found avian flu and distemper viruses in the preliminary tests performed on the first batch of samples from seals that have been washing up dead on beaches in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts in unusually high numbers since July.
The Greater Atlantic Region Fisheries Office for NOAA said in a statement Thursday that the sampled seals, tested by Tufts University and the University of California, Davis laboratories, tested positive for either avian influenza or phocine distemper virus — four animals tested positive for both of the viruses.
“We have many more samples to process and analyze, so it is still too soon to determine if either or both of these viruses are the primary cause of the mortality event,” NOAA said.
Jennifer Goebel, a public affairs officer with NOAA, told Boston.com in an email that the initial results represent a “small number of the overall documented stranded seals” and continued testing is needed because co-infections are often found in the marine mammals.