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| USGS: Barrow bear with infection |
It appears that an unknown virus that infected seals and walruses has jumped to polar bears. Last summer about 60 seals were found dead on the coast of Alaska and another 75 diseased. USGS Scientists working in the Beaufort Sea near Barrow, Alaska have now found nine polar bears with oozing lesions and fur loss, the same symptoms prompting the federal government to declare an unusual mortality event for seals in 2011. Walruses were also infected but apparently did not die from the disease. Biologists have collected blood and tissue samples to try and determine if the polar bear illness is in fact related to what killed the seals. The latest tests have ruled out toxic algae blooms. The infection is most common around the bears' muzzle and face, ears, eyes and neck.