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Feds attributed those deaths to phocine distemper virus.

But harp seals seem to be better able to survive phocine distemper, Dr. Goldstein said, and may serve as its reservoir — the ecological niche in which the infection persists.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday that the main pathogen found in the seals is phocine distemper virus.

In 2011-2012, an influenza outbreak killed about 780 seals from Maine to Massachusetts, and in 2006-2007 about 1,500 seals from Maine to Virginia died from phocine distemper, according to data from previous mortality reports.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said tests indicate dead seals found in New England tested positive for avian flu and phocine distemper.