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Año Nuevo preserve to reopen after bird flu outbreak kills elephant seals

By
Tim Fang
Digital News Producer, CBS Bay Area
Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for more than two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.
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Tim Fang

/ CBS San Francisco

The preserve and elephant seal viewing areas at Año Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County are set to reopen, following a deadly bird flu outbreak that has infected dozens of marine mammals.

According to park officials, the area will reopen on Saturday, April 11.

"Now is the perfect time to view the young weanlings before they head out for their first migration, as well as adult female seals returning to molt," the park .

On Feb. 25, the park announced the elephant seal viewing area was closed for the rest of the season after seven elephant seal pups tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1. The cases were the first involving a marine mammal in California and the first known cases in northern elephant seals.

About 1,350 seals were on the beach when the outbreak began at the state park located north of Santa Cruz, according to the Institute for Pandemic Insights at the University of California, Davis.

As of April 2, 32 northern elephant seals in San Mateo County have tested positive for the virus, along with four seals in Santa Cruz County, . In addition to the elephant seals, two California sea lions and one southern sea otter have tested positive in San Mateo County.

H5N1 strains have been linked to severe illness and widespread mortality in marine mammals in other parts of the world. While the risk of infection to the general public is very low, the virus can spread between animals and humans and people are advised not to touch live or dead seals or allow pets to approach them.

Visitors looking to enter the preserve and view the seals can pick up their free permit at the park on the day of their visit. Parking is $10 without a California State Parks Pass.

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