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GAINESVILLE, Fla. 鈥� The case of a Florida bottlenose dolphin found with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, or HPAIV 鈥� a discovery made by University of Florida researchers in collaboration with multiple agencies and one of the first reports of a constantly growing list of mammals affected by this virus 鈥�

The report documents the discovery, the first finding of HPAIV in a cetacean in North America, from the initial response by UF鈥檚 Marine Animal Rescue team to a report of a distressed dolphin in Dixie County, Florida, to the subsequent identification of the virus from brain and tissue samples obtained in a postmortem examination.

Analyses initially performed at UF鈥檚 zoological medicine diagnostic laboratory ruled out the presence of other potential agents at play in the dolphin鈥檚 disease, with the state鈥檚 Bronson Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Kissimmee, Florida, verifying the presence of HPAI virus in both the lung and brain.

Those results were confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, which characterized the virus subtype and pathotype. The virus was confirmed to be HPAI A (H5N1) virus of HA clade 2.3.4.4b. Subsequent tissue analysis was performed at the Biosafety Level 3 enhanced laboratory at St. Jude Children鈥檚 Research Hospital in Memphis.

Allison Murawski, D.V.M., a former intern with UF鈥檚 aquatic animal medicine program, was first author on the study and developed a case report on the dolphin as part of her research project. She traveled to Memphis and worked closely with Richard Webby, Ph.D., who directs the World 网红黑料 Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds at St. Jude鈥檚 and served as corresponding author on the paper

Webby鈥檚 lab investigates avian influenza cases in many species and was key in determining where the virus may have originated, what unique RNA characteristics or mutations were present that could suggest its ability to infect other mammals, and how the virus could be tracked from this source.

The researchers sequenced genomes from local birds and looked at viruses isolated from Northeast seal populations.

鈥淲e still don鈥檛 know where the dolphin got the virus and more research needs to be done,鈥� Webby said.

鈥淭his investigation was an important step in understanding this virus and is a great example where happenstance joins with curiosity, having to answer the 鈥榳hy鈥� and then seeing how the multiple groups and expertise took this to a fantastic representation of collaborative excellence,鈥� said Mike Walsh, D.V.M., an associate professor of aquatic animal health, who served as Murawski鈥檚 faculty mentor.