![]() The warning was issued in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. 'The COUG genotype has never before been described in sea otters, nor anywhere in the California coastal environment or in any other aquatic mammal or bird,' she said. It is unclear whether people who catch this strain are more likely to suffer severe disease.ĭr Shapiro added that the newly diagnosed strain in California came as a 'complete surprise'. In most cases, the parasitic infection causes no symptoms.īut in the past it has been linked to severe symptoms including miscarriages and seizures. It tends to be picked up from eating contaminated foods, such as undercooked shellfish, or from close contact with pet cats harboring the parasite. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also says it drives hundreds of deaths and thousands of hospitalizations. ![]() The parasite is able to infect humans, with more than 800,000 Americans catching the disease every year. But this rare type has not previously been spotted. Toxoplasmosis, the disease it causes, is common in otters. The scientists said that because sea otters live near coastlines, they are therefore vulnerable to infection with the parasite. But heavy rain can wash the parasites into fresh or salt water. Toxoplasma parasites are normally found lurking in cat feces. It was not clear how they became infected, but scientists said it was likely caused by the parasite being washed into the sea by heavy rainfall. ![]() It marked the first time the disease had been recorded in any sea animals in California. Little is known about this variant, but it appears to trigger more severe disease than other types.Īs well as the lesions, all the animals also had steatitis, or severe inflammation of their body fat. Genetic testing revealed they had been infected with a previously undetected version of toxoplasmosis, named COUG. Three of the four were females who lived within six miles of each other in San Luis Obispo county, which is between San Francisco and Los Angeles, while the other was an immature male in Santa Cruz County, just outside the Bay Area. The four sea otters were found stranded between February 2020 and March 2022. ![]()
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