ABSTRACT
Eight bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that stranded in Cornwall, south-west England, between June 2004 and December 2007 were examined using standardised postmortem examination and bacteriological methods. Evidence of Brucella species infection was found in four of these dolphins on culture. In addition, of the eight dolphins, four were positive and two were weakly positive for antibodies to Brucella species on serological analyses of pericardial and other fluids using a competitive ELISA and two indirect ELISAs. High or very high levels of the sum of 25 individual chlorobiphenyl congeners (∑25CBs) were also determined in blubber samples from two of the dolphins (45.5 and 446.6 mg/kg lipid weight).
Subject(s)
Adipose Tissue/chemistry , Bottle-Nosed Dolphin , Brucellosis/veterinary , Polychlorinated Biphenyls/metabolism , Animals , Bottle-Nosed Dolphin/metabolism , Bottle-Nosed Dolphin/microbiology , Brucellosis/epidemiology , England/epidemiology , Environmental Pollutants , Female , MaleABSTRACT
A monophasic group B Salmonella enterica 4,12:a:- was first isolated in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in Scotland in 1991. This paper reports the isolation of the same group B S enterica from harbour porpoise carcases found stranded along the Cornwall and Devon coastlines. Between 1991 and 2002, 80 harbour porpoises were submitted for postmortem examination and subjected to bacteriological examination under the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme. A total of 28 Salmonella isolates were recovered and subjected to several tests, including biochemical, molecular and serological analysis.
Subject(s)
Phocoena/microbiology , Salmonella Infections, Animal/microbiology , Salmonella enterica/isolation & purification , Animals , England/epidemiology , Lung/microbiology , Prevalence , Salmonella Infections, Animal/epidemiology , Salmonella enterica/classification , Serotyping/veterinarySubject(s)
Brucella/isolation & purification , Brucellosis/veterinary , Meningoencephalitis/veterinary , Stenella , Animals , Autopsy/veterinary , Brucellosis/microbiology , Brucellosis/pathology , England , Euthanasia, Animal , Male , Meningoencephalitis/microbiology , Meningoencephalitis/pathologyABSTRACT
Adult female nematodes identified as Pseudalius inflexus were collected from the lungs of a juvenile male harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) found dead on a beach in Cornwall, UK. Classic and molecular typing methods, immunologic and electron microscopy immunolabeling techniques, provided evidence of Brucella sp. infection within the uterine tissue of nematodes of this marine mammal. This finding presents further evidence to suggest parasites should be considered as a potential means of transfer of bacterial infection in marine mammals and highlights the zoonotic implications for humans exposed to marine mammals through occupation or leisure.
