Health Status, Infection and Disease in California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) studied using a canine microarray platform and machine-learning approaches. Zalophus californianus

In this study we assessed the utility of a microarray to identify changes in gene expression predictive of health status by interrogating blood samples from California sea lions in rehabilitation. Overall design: 73 California sea lion blood samples. 28 Females and 45 males. Animals were divided into 4 groups based on preliminary diagnosis at the rehabilitation center: domoic acid toxicosis (n=33, DAT), Leptospirosis infection (n=24, Lepto), control (n=4, Healthy) and other diseases (n=12, Outgroup).