This is the best summary I could come up with:

Florida scientists have reported the first known case of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in a common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

Though the case dates back to 2022, it’s the latest indication that these flu strains can potentially infect a wide variety of mammals.

The strain in this case did not appear to develop known genetic changes that would make it easier to infect and transmit between mammals, the authors found.

But flu viruses mutate very quickly, leaving open the possibility that some strains will adapt and pick up the right changes that can make them a much bigger threat to mammals both on land and in the sea.

“Human health risk aside, the consequences of A(H5N1) viruses adapting for enhanced replication in and transmission between dolphins and other cetacea could be catastrophic for these populations,” the authors wrote.

The researchers are continuing to investigate the case, hoping to pinpoint the origins of the dolphin’s infection and to better understand the potential for bird flu strains to successfully jump the species barrier to these marine mammals.

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