Virus kills over a thousand dolphins in Florida

By barony, 8th Jan 2014 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/3vpwdr39/
Posted in Wikinut>News>Science

Over a thousand dolphins have died in 2013 infected by a virus present in the waters of the east coast of the United States, from New York to Florida, revealed a maritime biologist.

Virus kills over a thousand dolphins in Florida

Dolphin

Erin Fougeres, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States, explained to the Miami Herald that the virus, identical to measles, is having a "significant impact" on the dolphins. The number of deaths this year exceeds 740 animals since the last major outbreak of the virus in the late 80s of last century.
The number of dolphins found are added to those who have died at the sea, whose remains have not reached the coast, so the death toll could be higher. Investigators are trying to determine the reasons why the virus is having high impact on dolphins, who are migrating with the arrival of cold temperatures.
"The last time this happened was about 25 years ago and the animals that survived had to have natural antibodies. But as these animals died slowly, the new ones have not been exposed and could not have these defenses," Fougeres said. According to the official data, there were about 40,000 dolphins in 2010 on the east coast of the United States.
The death of dolphins sums to those of Manatee, with more than 800 specimens dying in the waters of the state of Florida this year, according to recent figures from the Commission for the Protection of Wild Life and Fisheries.