Hawaii's endangered monk seals could receive new protection from the bird flu if all goes well with a vaccine trial. Veterinarians in California have started a small-scale trial to test a bird flu vaccine on marine mammals, focusing first on six northern elephant seals at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. The goal is to determine if the vaccine is safe and effective enough to eventually protect endangered Hawaiian monk seals, whose population stands at about 1,600 and is considered vulnerable as migrating birds potentially bring the virus to Hawaii over the coming weeks, reports the New York Times.
Speed is critical: The H5N1 bird flu variant has swept through wild bird populations, poultry, and marine mammals globally. The virus was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 17,000 southern elephant seal pups in Argentina last year, per New Scientist—a scale of loss that could be catastrophic for the much smaller monk seal population. There is no bird flu vaccine specifically made for marine mammals, so the team used a product from Zoetis, originally formulated for cows. To avoid risking the endangered monk seals without preliminary safety data, researchers first vaccinated the more plentiful elephant seals.
Three of the six received the vaccine, while the others got a placebo. Mild side effects, such as hives, appeared in several seals but resolved quickly. One seal in the placebo group died during the trial, with no link to the vaccine, per the Times. The seals' blood will be analyzed for immune response, and the results will help guide whether to proceed with vaccinating monk seals. The final decision on monk seal vaccination will be made in collaboration with federal wildlife officials.
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