Investigation published in Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

December 6^th, 2011

An adult female bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stranded alive and subsequently died several minutes later on the Mediterranean coast of Spain on 14 July 2010. Clinical examination revealed foam through the blowhole and rales upon lung auscultation. On venipuncture, the blood was abnormally dense and dark. Hematological and biochemical abnormalities included dehydration, leukocytosis (48600 leukocytes µl−1) characterized by neutrophilia (48200 neutrophils µl−1), and elevated bilirubin (4.38 mg dl−1), alanine aminotransferase (382.3 U l−1), aspartate aminotransferase (1449.3 U l−1), lactate dehydrogenase (1631.3 U l−1), and creatine kinase (404.7 U l−1). The most relevant findings of the gross examination were rhomboid-shaped skin lesions, stable froth in the trachea, pulmonary congestion, abnormally thick and rough pleura with adhesions, edematous and congestive superficial cervical and tracheobronchial lymph nodes, red-tinged urine, and severe brain congestion. Histopathology of the kidney, lung, skin, and brain revealed multisystemic intravascular bacterial emboli. Samples of skin, brain, and lung were cultured on Columbia blood agar under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and pure and heavy bacterial cultures were obtained from skin and brain samples. The microorganism isolated was Gram-positive, catalase-negative, facultatively anaerobic, and rod-shaped. The isolates were identified as Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae by the API Coryne biochemical system. Based on the gross and microscopic findings, a diagnosis of acute E. rhusiopathiae septicemia was made. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of E. rhusiopathiae septicemia in a free-ranging bottlenose dolphin

Melero M., Rubio-Guerri C., Crespo JL., Arbelo M., Vela AI., Garcia-Parraga D., Sierra E., Dominguez L. and Sanchez-Vizcaino JM..

First case of erysipelas in a free-ranging bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stranded in the Mediterranean Sea

First case of erysipelas in a free-ranging bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stranded in the Mediterranean Sea

	Servicio de Inmunología Viral y Medicina Preventiva (SUAT). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Instituto Universitario de Sanidad Animal y Seguridad Alimentaria (IUSA). Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).
	Oceanogràfic. Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. Generalitat Valenciana.