S. Ip Frances M. D. Gulland Woutrina A. Miller Patricia A. Conrad Cara L. Field Michelle Fleetwood James T. Harvey Spencer Jang Andrea Packham Elizabeth Wheeler Ailsa J. Hall Denise J. Greig 2014 <p>The infection status of harbor seals <i>Phoca vitulina</i> in central California, USA, was evaluated through broad surveillance for pathogens in stranded and wild-caught animals from 2001 to 2008, with most samples collected in 2007 and 2008. Stranded animals from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo County were sampled at a rehabilitation facility: The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC, n = 175); wild-caught animals were sampled at 2 locations: San Francisco Bay (SF, n = 78) and Tomales Bay (TB, n = 97), that differed in degree of urbanization. Low prevalences of <i>Salmonella</i>, <i>Campylobacter</i>, <i>Giardia</i>, and <i>Cryptosporidium</i> were detected in the feces of stranded and wild-caught seals. <i>Clostridium perfringens</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i> were more prevalent in the feces of stranded (58% [78 out of 135] and 76% [102 out of 135]) than wild-caught (42% [45 out of 106] and 66% [68 out of 106]) seals, whereas <i>Vibrio</i> spp. were 16 times more likely to be cultured from the feces of seals from SF than TB or TMMC (p &lt; 0.005). <i>Brucella</i> DNA was detected in 3.4% of dead stranded harbor seals (2 out of 58). Type A influenza was isolated from feces of 1 out of 96 wild-caught seals. Exposure to <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, <i>Sarcocystis neurona</i>, and type A influenza was only detected in the wild-caught harbor seals (post-weaning age classes), whereas antibody titers to Leptospira spp. were detected in stranded and wild-caught seals. No stranded (n = 109) or wild-caught (n = 217) harbor seals had antibodies to phocine distemper virus, although a single low titer to canine distemper virus was detected. These results highlight the role of harbor seals as sentinel species for zoonotic and terrestrial pathogens in the marine environment.</p> application/pdf 10.3354/dao02762 en Inter-Research Surveillance for zoonotic and selected pathogens in harbor seals <i>Phoca vitulina</i> from central California article