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Harbor porpoise in Canada (icon image)
Photo: Nick Hawkins / Nature Picture Library / IMAGO
The bird flu virus was first discovered in a harbor porpoise.
The small marine mammal was stranded in Sweden in June and died of bird flu, the State Veterinary Institute (SVA) said on Wednesday.
"To our knowledge, this is the world's first confirmed case of bird flu in a harbor porpoise," says senior veterinarian Elina Thorsson.
She suspected the animal had come into contact with infected birds.
The male cub was found alive on a beach in western Sweden at the end of June.
"Despite repeated attempts by private individuals to get him to swim back to deeper water, he became too exhausted, became entangled in the seaweed and died later that evening," the statement said.
According to the Veterinary Institute, the H5N1 bird flu virus was found in several of his organs.
"Unlike seals, which have been reported to have multiple cases of illness caused by an influenza virus, there have only been a handful of reports of influenza viruses in whales," Thorsson is quoted as saying.
The virus had previously been detected in other mammals such as red foxes, otters, lynxes and skunks.
Europe and North America are currently facing a major outbreak of avian influenza in wild birds.
The SVA is studying stranded porpoises, other whales and seals in collaboration with the National Museum of Natural History, the statement said.
"The aim is to find out how the animals are doing and what diseases and other threats they are exposed to." In the long term, changes in populations, species and ecosystems could be identified.
ani/AFP