[imagesource:pexels]

Listen, we know we’re a fun country to skinner about, but international news outlets occasionally take their reporting on South African stories to sensational heights.

Many of us Capetonians received the forwarded Whatsapp last week warning locals of an increase in rabies-infected seals, took in the information, and carried on with our lives. International media outlets, on the other hand, seem to be too titillated by our rebellious sea mammals.

While it is important to explore the science behind the issue, many overseas publications are making it sound like the seals are running the streets, waiting to hijack unsuspecting victims, which is simply not the case.

We’re here to calm the proverbial waters and provide some scientific insight into our Cape fur seals’ plight – without intensified fearmongering.

At least 11 Cape fur seals have tested positive for the deadly virus, marking only the second recorded instance of rabies spreading to seals, with local law enforcement and animal control departments responding by encouraging surfers and swimmers to give the ocean critters a wider berth than usual when in the waves.

Infectious disease experts suggest that the virus likely spread to the seals from dogs or jackals along the Cape Coast, posing a risk of further transmission within the region’s large seal populations. The key point to take from this is that rabies is the main pressing concern, not the seals themselves.

Rabies, a virus that kills an estimated 60,000 people globally each year, is nearly always fatal once symptoms develop. While the virus is endemic among some wildlife in South Africa, human cases in our country are rare, with most global human cases resulting from dog bites or scratches.

Dr Tamsin Lovelock, an infectious disease expert at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital, has pointed out that seals are not routinely tested for rabies, which also impacts our knowledge of the disease in seals, as well as the extent of its impact.

The only other recorded case of rabies in seals occurred in the Svalbard islands of Norway in 1980. Dr Lovelock explained that a seal likely contracted the virus from a bite by either a dog or a jackal, which is the most common way to contract rabies.

“Interactions between wild jackals and seal colonies are well described on the West Coast of South Africa, and many people take their dogs to the beach, so such an interaction is highly plausible.”

This brings us to important point number two: not only should humans respect seals’ spaces when interacting with the beach and ocean, but keep your pooch away from these precious creatures too.

Giving our local seals a bad rap just because they have been exposed to the disease is simply not smart or helpful, especially considering that scientists Professor Sarah Cleaveland, from the School of Biodiversity, One Health, and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow, emphasise that all mammals are susceptible to rabies. Yes, even you, Karen.

Dr Lovelock has further warned that Cape fur seals are known to gather in large colonies on land and travel significant distances for feeding, presenting a risk for widespread transmission within their population.

“Seals live in large family groups, so the potential for spread is certainly there. Any animal with rabies may become very aggressive, attacking and biting indiscriminately, and if a seal with rabies bites and injures other seals in its social group, they may also become infected.”

Groups of local scientists are currently examining the rabies sequence taken from infected seals to determine its origins and are testing samples from dead seals collected in recent years to assess if they too were infected.

While the smarties do the brainwork, it’s crucial to also arm oneself with information regarding what to do if you find yourself in a dangerous situation with a seal. Prompt treatment and vaccination within 24 hours of a bite are highly effective in preventing the disease from taking hold, so yeet yourself to medical care if you’ve been nipped.

Symptoms of rabies in wild animals can include a lack of inhibition or fear, restlessness, unusual sounds, unprovoked aggression, and convulsions. That sounds like my regular Saturday night, but jokes aside, keep an eye out for hydrophobia, or fear of water, as an oft-cited symptom in humans, which presents as a difficulty to swallow liquids, as opposed to a jumpscare reaction to bodies of H20.

As our amazing scientists keep working on a way to protect both our local seals and humans, remember to also innoculate yourself against the exaggerated fear peddled by certain international publications – misinformation can be more dangerous than a seal bite.

[source:telegraph]