A VIRUS has overcome the powerful immune system of manatees.
Gregory Bossart of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, found
cauliflower-shaped warts, caused by a papillomavirus, on two gulf-coast
manatees. A related virus causes plantar warts on human feet.
Bossart says this is the first viral infection detected among manatees,
despite heavy monitoring of the endangered species.
“We may have just missed this in the past or it may be a new emerging
infection,” says Bossart. Or, he says, pollutants may be weakening the manatees’
immune systems.
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