Phocine Distemper Virus in Northern Sea Otters in the Pacific Ocean, Alaska, USA

Abstract

Phocine distemper virus (PDV) has caused 2 epidemics in harbor seals in the Atlantic Ocean but had never been identified in any Pacific Ocean species. We found that northern sea otters in Alaska are infected with PDV, which has created a disease threat to several sympatric and decreasing Pacific marine mammals.

Keywords

• Viruses
• phocine distemper virus
• northern sea otters
• Alaska
• Pacific Ocean
• dispatch