Scientists warn El Nino weather shifts could push rabid, aggressive seals into new waters, risking a deadly global rabies outbreak among marine mammals
Freak weather patterns caused by El Nino could spark a terrifying global surge of aggressive rabid seals, experts have warned. The world’s animal health body has issued an urgent alert as scientists fear the deadly virus could spread from Africa to beaches across South America and Australasia.
The alarming warning comes after rabies was detected in Cape fur seals off South Africa in 2024, marking the first major outbreak ever recorded in marine mammals and a “significant shift in rabies ecology”.
More than 100 rabid seals have already been confirmed in South Africa and Namibia, with enraged, infected beasts turning unusually aggressive and targeting humans, pets and local wildlife.
There have already been 145 incidents of potential human exposure. Extreme weather is now threatening to make the nightmare go global.
Shifting fish stocks caused by El Nino’s surging sea temperatures are forcing uninfected seals to swim thousands of miles in search of food.
Experts fear warming waters around Antarctica will send seal colonies northbound into South African waters, where they will bump into infected beasts before taking the deadly bug back home.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said: “Regions in the southern hemisphere, including Latin America and Australasia, should maintain heightened surveillance for rabies transmission among marine mammals.
“(Also) recognising that our understanding of the epidemiology of this event is still evolving. Early detection and timely reporting remain essential.”
Dr François Diaz, from WOAH’s wildlife team, warned that El Nino could trigger unprecedented seal migrations.
He said: “In particular for sub-Antarctica and Antarctica, the population can move and go for example to Southern Africa or Southern America, Australia.
“It’s rather rare that we have this kind of movement, but it’s possible and with the El Nino phenomenon it pushes a little bit more the possibility of this kind of movement, in particular from sub-Antarctica and Antarctica to Southern Africa.
“If we had this, it might be an issue in a way that you could potentially have transmission of rabies from the pinniped [seal] population in Southern Africa to this population that could come back to sub Antarctica and Antarctica.
“From this it’s a potential spread of the disease in this area of Antarctica and sub-Antarctica and then so potentially you have some potential link with other regions worldwide.”
Rabies kills roughly 60,000 people globally every year, and once symptoms develop, the gruesome disease is 100 per cent fatal.
Dr Diaz urged nations to stock up on life-saving vaccines, adding: “This emergence of rabies in Cape fur seals represents really a significant shift in rabies ecology and so there is some implication that it goes beyond just Southern Africa.”