A porpoise was found dead on a beach in Sweden last June.
The cetacean succumbed to avian flu, the Veterinary Institute of Sweden announced on Wednesday.
"To our knowledge, this is the world's first confirmed case of avian influenza in a porpoise," chief veterinary officer Elina Thorsson said in a statement.
“It is likely that the porpoise somehow came into contact with infected birds.
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Massive bird flu epidemic in Europe
The young male was found stranded on a west coast beach in late June.
He was still alive and walkers had tried to bring him back to deeper waters.
But, suffering from exhaustion, the cetacean had died the same evening.
The bird flu virus (H5N1) was found in several of his organs.
“Unlike seals, where illnesses linked to avian viruses have been detected on many occasions, there are only a handful of reported cases of influenza viruses in cetaceans”, points out Elina Thorsson.
Avian flu has already been detected in other mammals (red foxes, otters, lynx and polecats).
Europe and North America are currently facing a large epidemic among wild birds, which also contaminates many farms.
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