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

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. 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).