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Rabid seals in South Africa are attacking people in the first known major outbreak of the disease in marine mammals.
Rabid seal bites beachgoer in South Africa (Photo: Shutterstock).
Theo Live ScienceSeveral cases of seal attacks on surfers and beachgoers have been recorded in South Africa recently.
A common feature of all cases is that seals tested positive for rabies virus.
Like dogs, seals are quite gentle in temperament and often play with humans. However, the rabies virus causes them to act strangely and aggressively.
In a video recorded in May, a seal latched onto a man’s surfboard and began biting him.
“It jumped on my back and bit through my wetsuit. It also bit me in the back,” he said. “I tried to push it away, but it kept coming back to attack.”
Several seals were also found on the beach as they swam ashore with blood stains and severe facial injuries, likely caused by another rabid seal.
Seals live in groups of up to thousands. This is also the reason why if an epidemic breaks out among them, it will be very difficult to control (Photo: Observation).
This is the first known major outbreak of the disease in marine mammals, experts say.
“We think quite a few people have been bitten by rabid seals. These people need to be very careful because of the risk of rabies infection from them,” said Gregg Oelofse, representative of the coastal management board of Cape Town City (South Africa).
Oelofse also advised beachgoers and surfers in the area to exercise extreme caution and seek immediate medical attention if bitten by a seal.
Meanwhile, scientists are sequencing the rabies virus to determine exactly where and when it entered the seal population, thereby determining the extent of the epidemic’s spread.
South African Fur Seal (Arctocephalus petitlus) have the habit of living in dense herds. That means the disease can become endemic, and even spread to other mammals, such as otters, sea lions…