This story was originally Appeared in Guardian is part of climate desk collaboration.
Scientist Melissa Miller was seeing something never before seen in southern sea otters: an unusually severe form of toxoplasmosis, officials confirmed at least four sea otters had died.
“We wanted to spread the word. We want you to be aware of this discovery,” said Miller, a wildlife veterinary expert with the California Department of Fish. Wildlife (DFW). “Take special precautions.”
In March, a study by DFW and the University of California, Davis revealed that a rare parasite never before reported in aquatic animals was linked to the deaths of four sea otters. The lineage was first seen in Canadian mountain lions in 1995, but had never been detected off the coast of California.
“This was a total surprise,” Karen Shapiro of the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine said in a statement. “COUG [toxoplasma strain] No genotype has ever been described in sea otters, in the California coastal environment, or in any other aquatic mammal or bird. “
The extent of the risk to southern sea otters is not yet clear, but the parasite is of concern because it could affect populations of endangered species and risks to other animals, study says. says the author. Polluting the environment and the marine food chain can pose a public health risk, according to a University of California, Davis announcement. Parasites can also infect humans.
Scientists are looking into several other cases that may be related to this strain, but we won’t know if there is a connection until further analysis is completed.
The first case dates back to 2020, and the other sea otter was found in 2022, she said. The sea otters all appeared to have severe inflammation of fat all over their bodies, something Miller had never seen before. She observed numerous parasites throughout her body, with the exception of her brain. Usually, in fatal cases, she sees more parasites in her brain.
“So I thought these animals died very quickly,” Miller said. This lineage of parasites “behaved in many different ways than anything we’ve seen before,” she said.
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, found that all four sea otters were infected with the same strain of parasite previously reported in mountain lions.
Toxoplasma is commonly found in cat feces. Sea otters living along coastlines can be exposed to parasites in stormwater runoff. All four cases investigated by scientists occurred during a season of heavy rains.
Toxoplasmosis is a common infection in sea otters, with about a 60% lifetime chance of contracting it, which can be fatal, said Miller, but the strain is of particular concern. I’m here.
But Miller warned against unfairly demonizing cats.
“I don’t want this to become a fight with cats,” she said. “I have two cats. What I try to do is practice what I preach and what I know as a scientist. , I try to dispose of cat litter so it doesn’t leak into the environment.”
