Helicobacter cetorum infection in striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), and short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphus) from the southwest coast of England.

Helicobacter infection in cetaceans was first reported from the US in 2000 when the isolation of a novel Helicobacter species was described from two Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus). Since then, Helicobacter species have been demonstrated in cetaceans and pinnipeds from around the world. Since 1990, the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency Polwhele, Truro, has been involved in the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme to establish the cause of death of cetacean species stranded along the coast of Cornwall, England. We describe the isolation of Helicobacter cetorum in a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) and evidence of H. cetorum infection in cetaceans from European waters.

Meningoencephalitis and arthritis associated with Brucella ceti in a short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis).

Brucella species infection in marine mammal species has been reported to have a global distribution. In 2007, the description of Brucella ceti was published and formally adopted for those isolates originating from cetaceans and pathologic lesions similar to those seen in terrestrial mammals infected with Brucella spp. have been associated with its isolation. Brucella ceti infection specific to the central nervous system has been described in two species of cetacean: striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in Europe and Costa Rica and an Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) in the UK. We describe the first report, to our knowledge, of B. ceti-associated meningitis and arthritis in a third species, the short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), in an animal that stranded in the UK.