Emerging Infectious Diseases (Dec 2019)

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N8) Virus in Gray Seals, Baltic Sea

  • Dai-Lun Shin,
  • Ursula Siebert,
  • Jan Lakemeyer,
  • Miguel Grilo,
  • Iwona Pawliczka,
  • Nai-Huei Wu,
  • Peter Valentin-Weigand,
  • Ludwig Haas,
  • Georg Herrler

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2512.181472
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 12
pp. 2295 – 2298

Abstract

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We detected a highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) virus in lung samples of 2 gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) stranded on the Baltic coast of Poland in 2016 and 2017. This virus, clade 2.3.4.4 B, was closely related to avian H5N8 viruses circulating in Europe at the time.

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