Dead seals are appearing along the beaches of Cape Town, South Africa, as a rabies outbreak affects marine animals.
As per CNN, Gregg Oelofse, Cape Town's coastal manager, confirmed that this is the first known spread of rabies within a marine mammal population.
Rabies in seals is rare, with the only previous case detected in Norway's Svalbard islands in 1980.
Cape Town, which has over 300 kilometers of coastline and thousands of Cape fur seals, has recorded 11 positive rabies cases in seals.
The latest positive case was detected 10 days ago while Oelofse urged calm, noting that it is normal to find dead seals along the shoreline, though many have washed ashore this week.
However, investigations are ongoing to determine how the seals contracted the disease. Genetic sequencing of the rabies virus is underway.
Last month, the Western Cape provincial health department alerted residents to the rabies risk, warning of potential cases along the entire coastline where seals are present.
Authorities confirmed seven cases of rabies in seals from different beaches in Cape Town and the Western Cape, with the first case detected in October 2023.
Cape Town officials emphasised there is no cause for panic, stating that while rabies is new in Cape fur seals, it is endemic in many wildlife populations in South Africa.
What is Rabies?
Rabies is an infectious viral disease that affects the brain and central nervous system and is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.
The virus is typically transmitted to humans through animal bites or scratches.
