Volume 30, Number 6—June 2024
Research
Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Seals, St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec, Canada1
Stéphane Lair
, Louise Quesnel, Anthony V. Signore, Pauline Delnatte, Carissa Embury-Hyatt, Marie-Soleil Nadeau, Oliver Lung, Shannon T. Ferrell, Robert Michaud, and Yohannes Berhane
, Louise Quesnel, Anthony V. Signore, Pauline Delnatte, Carissa Embury-Hyatt, Marie-Soleil Nadeau, Oliver Lung, Shannon T. Ferrell, Robert Michaud, and Yohannes Berhane
Table 1
Percentages of stranded seals tested that were infected by HPAI A(H5N1) in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec, Canada, April 22–October 6, 2022*
| Species and sampling | % Infected (no. infected†/no. tested) |
|---|---|
| Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) | |
| Full postmortem examination | 64 (14/22) |
| Nasal/rectal field swab | 55 (6/11) |
| Total |
61 (20/33) |
| Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) | |
| Full postmortem examination | 33 (1/3) |
| Nasal/rectal field swab | 0 (0/1) |
| Total |
25 (1/4) |
| Hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) | |
| Full postmortem examination |
0 (0/1) |
| Harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) | |
| Full postmortem examination |
0 (0/1) |
| Total pinnipeds | |
| Full postmortem examination | 56 (15/27) |
| Nasal/rectal field swab | 50 (6/12) |
| Total | 54 (21/39) |
*Postmortem and field swab samples were from different individual strandings. HPAI, highly pathogenic avian influenza. †Infections were determined on the basis of epidemiologic data, presence of suggestive lesions, and PCR testing using H5-specific primers.
1Preliminary results from this study were presented at the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine Conference, May 24, 2023, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
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Page updated: May 22, 2024
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