An emerging strain of influenza thatâs killed seals off the New England coast may pose a future threat to humans and other wildlife, warns a new report.
The report, published on July 31 in the journal mBio, said the H3N8 virus caused a fatal outbreak of pneumonia in 162 New England harbour seals from September to December 2011.
The researchers believe the virus may have evolved from a strain that is currently found in birds.
Whatâs particularly concerning is that the virus naturally acquired mutations that are known to boost its transmission and intensity in mammals. And itâs this âjumpingâ from mammal to mammal thatâs causing scientists to worry it could one day infect humans, according to the report.
"There is a concern that we have a new mammalian-transmissible virus to which humans haven't been exposed yet. It's a combination we haven't seen in disease before," the reportâs editor Dr. Anne Moscona, professor of pediatrics and of microbiology and immunology at New Yorkâs Weill Cornell Medical College, said in a news release.
Researchers believe the H3N8 virus may be the first recorded account of a new group of flu viruses that have the potential to persist and move between species.
Dr. Earl Brown, director of the Emerging Pathogens Research Centre in Ottawa, told ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel Tuesday that scientists are âalways nervousâ when they see a virus switching from mammal to mammal.
âThe virus is always in water fowl, so when you see it move into another mammal, it makes you ask: âWell, whatâs going on here? And can this thing change enough to get into people?ââ he said.
Brown said the virus may have passed onto the seals through bird droppings that land on the sealsâ eyes and noses.
The fear is that once the virus has acclimatized to the seal, it could then pass to another mammal, he said.
However, if the H3N8 strain starts to infect people, there is an H3 vaccine that could help prevent the spread of the flu, said Brown.
âIt wouldnât be that weâd be totally flatfooted; we may have some past antibodies that would help us in our past vaccines,â he said. âWe may be able to get up to vaccine status pretty quick if it came.â
The authors of the study say it is crucial to continue to monitor the virus to better predict how new strains of influenza may emerge in the future, as well as to prevent future pandemics.