REVIEW ARTICLE Marine Mammal Zoonoses: A Review of Disease Manifestations

• Contact between marine mammals and humans is increasing as the number of managed animals in oceanaria, rehabilitation facilities and research facilities grows. Furthermore, as coastal communities expand, opportunities for encounters with marine wildlife increase. Encounters with wildlife species, including marine mammals, pose certain risks including traumatic injury and disease transmission. In this review, we provide a synopsis of the known marine mammal zoonotic diseases, their clinical and pathologic manifestation in marine mammals, followed by a review of disease transmission to humans. • Although marine mammal zoonoses are poorly understood, a growing list of bacterial, viral and fungal agents have been reported. The most common marine mammal zoonotic diseases induce localized self-limiting infections, although life-threatening systemic diseases have been reported. Marine mammal researchers, rehabilitators, trainers, veterinarians, vol-unteers and subsistence hunters have an increased risk of being injured or acquiring zoonotic diseases through extended occupational exposure. • Future progress in marine mammal zoonotic disease research will require the coordination of multidisciplinary teams addressing the nexus of human, animal and environment. The information presented here will be useful to public health professionals, physicians, veterinarians and wildlife biologists interested in a better understanding of marine mammal zoonoses. Keywords: marine mammals; zoonosis; one healt