Diver attacked off Simon’s Town — what to do if you’re bitten by a rabid seal

(Table: National Animal Health Directorate at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development)

21 Jan 2025

What happens if you get bitten or scratched by an aggressive seal carrying rabies? What are the protocols? These are some of the questions being asked by open-water swimmers, scuba divers and snorkellers after a new attack by a suspected rabid seal off Windmill Beach, Simon’s Town.

The Windmill Beach attack on Monday, 20 January was the latest in a series of seal attacks and reports of aggressive seals around the Western Cape Coast amid the first rabies outbreak in marine animals, affecting Cape fur seals along the country’s coast.

On Monday, dive and scuba groups in Cape Town’s South Peninsula were perturbed at reports of a seal attack where a man who had gone snorkelling with his family off Windmill Beach was bitten on his foot by a seemingly rabid Cape Fur Seal just before 10am.

Emergency and research teams responded immediately and Windmill Beach was closed for the remainder of the day. The beach was reopened on Tuesday after the seal had been humanely euthanised.

Nicole Kieswetter, a field worker at marine mammal science research organisation Sea Search, was on the scene mid-morning on Monday, with officials from the City of Cape Town’s Coastal Management branch.

Kieswetter told Daily Maverick that a family of snorkellers was in the water when the seal started attacking a yellow dive buoy they had with them. The family was able to escape from the water, but the seal displayed aggressive behaviour, biting a man in the group as he was leaving the water.

“They saw that as their chance to escape and the yellow lifebuoy was left behind where the seal was,” she said.

Kieswetter said that when they arrived at the scene after the biting incident, the seal would briefly attack the dive buoy about every 10 minutes and move about one or two metres away, swimming in circles.

“We also saw it pursue a [African] penguin, but it didn’t attack the penguin. The penguin managed to get away.

“At the time I went to monitor the seal, the officials weren’t able to do anything due to the weather conditions, because it was very windy… and a boat wasn’t able to reach the location where the seal was. So, there were officials monitoring the seal until yesterday afternoon at around 17:30, when the weather conditions allowed the officials to then euthanise the seal,” she said.

Cape Fur seals at Robberg in the Western Cape of South Africa, captured in the new Out of the Blue documentary about the mystery of Cape Fur Seals. (Photo: Out of the Blue director and cinematographer Floris Tils)

In June 2024, a rabies outbreak was detected in South African Cape fur seals, a species in which rabies has not been recorded previously. This is the first outbreak of rabies in the marine environment internationally, and concerns are being raised about the disease crossing borders with a possible case already in Namibia. (Photo: iStock)

Deputy Mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews said the man was taken to hospital and advised on rabies treatment.

“The team remained stationed at Windmill Beach to monitor the seal, which remained in the water throughout the day. The team that responded to the incident also monitored the seal’s behaviour over a five-hour period to ensure that the correct decisions were made in addressing the issue and prioritising public safety,” Andrews said.

Following the assessment of the seal’s behaviour and following the city’s management plan for seals with rabies, Andrews confirmed that the animal was humanely euthanised at 3pm on Monday.

The final decision to euthanise was made after consultation and agreement with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and Cape of Good Hope SPCA officials.

Rabies in Cape fur seals

Cape fur seals are a social species and live close together in large colonies. Many divers and open-water swimmers recall their playful and friendly behaviour when encountering them in previous years, often approaching people and other animals out of curiosity or if motivated by food.

However, there have been increasing reports of Cape fur seals showing aggressive behaviour towards people since mass mortality events in 2021 and 2022, according to the latest update report on 31 October 2024 by Dr Mpho Maja, National Director of Animal Health at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.

After the Windmill Beach incident, Kieswetter said:

“We suspect that it was carrying rabies. It’s highly possible, but we haven’t confirmed yet. The seal attack incidents, from the reports of the people that were attacked and from what we’ve seen, is very similar behaviour to that we saw [yesterday].

“[That] is why we’re thinking that yesterday’s attack could possibly be rabies,” Kieswetter said.

Cape Fur seals at Yzerfontein, captured in the new Out of the Blue documentary about the mystery of Cape Fur Seals. (Photo: Out of the Blue director and cinematographer Floris Tils)

A fur seal framed by the SA Agulhas I, the South African polar research vessel, in March 2011. (Photo: Tiara Walters)

The seal attacks were happening more frequently, “which is quite scary”, but it was a fact that rabies was present in the seal population, she said.

Read more: Documentary reveals urgent rabies threat to South Africa’s marine ecosystem

The outbreak is endemic in the Cape fur seal population, meaning that rabies will always be present in Cape fur seals. According to the DFFE, the virus will have to naturally die off in the population without human intervention.

seal rabies attack (Map: National Animal Health Directorate at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development)

Control of the virus in wild animals

Rabies is a fatal virus transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal when it bites, scratches or licks a person. It can be controlled through vaccination of domestic dogs and cats, and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment.

Maja said that the virus affected the brain and was fatal once a person or animal showed clinical signs. Maja said that signs to look out for in animals infected with rabies would be changes in behaviour and neurological signs; they may drool, become paralysed, lose the ability to swallow, continuously vocalise, and become aggressive; or on the contrary, they might appear weak and unresponsive.

“Any mammal can become infected with rabies, but the biggest threat to human health is infected dogs and cats,” Maja said.

Control of the virus in wild animals is difficult. The Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) has advised that while vaccination is the best way to stop transmission in a population, vaccination is not practically feasible for Cape fur seals.

Thus, disease management was focused on long-term strategies to protect people and other animals from rabid seals.

A sample of brain tissue is used to test for the rabies virus.

Upon sampling and a positive test result, the animal carcass is disposed of at a hazardous waste facility. In a case where the seal of concern interacted with a human (ie, a bite), that person will be advised to get a rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

seal rabies western cape (Table: National Animal Health Directorate at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development)

seal rabies northern cape (Table: National Animal Health Directorate at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development)

What to do if you are bitten by a rabid seal

What immediate actions should people take if bitten by a seal that might carry rabies? The Western Cape Department of Agriculture says you should get to safety as quickly as possible.

“If you have a wound or scratch, wash it very thoroughly with soap and water. Then go immediately to your nearest clinic or doctor and tell them that you suspect you have been in contact with a rabid animal.

“Do not wait; the sooner you receive treatment, the higher the chance that you will not develop rabies. Also, report the aggressive seal to your local state veterinary office. To date, rabies has not been reported in other marine animals,” the department said.

There is no treatment for rabies once symptoms appear and the disease is 100% fatal. The recommended treatment after being bitten is the post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment process.

Those at high or continual risk for exposure to seals (such as divers, surfers and so on) were advised to consult their healthcare practitioner about receiving pre-exposure rabies vaccinations.

“Rabies PEP is a life-saving intervention for individuals who have been potentially exposed to the rabies virus and are at risk of infection. Rabies is a deadly infection and therefore rabies post-exposure prophylaxis is considered a medical emergency when possible rabies virus exposure has occurred,” said Jacqueline Weyer, Head of the Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

Weyer told Daily Maverick PEP for rabies followed a three-pronged approach.

First, the wound or wounds should be thoroughly washed with soap and water. The bite victim should then urgently go to a healthcare facility where the risk of rabies will be assessed and a regimen of vaccines with or without rabies immunoglobulin treatment will be provided.

The vaccination entails the administration of four doses of rabies vaccines over two weeks. If the wound or wounds drew any amount of blood, rabies immunoglobulin will be infused into the wound or wounds to provide immediate immunity from infection.

Learn more about rabies, including clinics, prevention and treatment options on the NICD website, the City of Cape Town website, and Western Cape State Vet. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Our Burning Planet

Rabies in Cape fur seals

Control of the virus in wild animals

What to do if you are bitten by a rabid seal