Canine Giardia in Harbor Seals
A recent study by the SeaDoc study demonstrates that harbor seals in the Puget Sound region carry their own type of Giardia, but in at least one location in South Puget Sound harbor seals could have been infected with a canine strain of Giardia. Many people are familiar with the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii infecting and killing sea otters; this study suggests that dogs also could transmit their parasites to marine mammals and reminds us that what happens on land is intimately connected to what happens in the ocean.
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