title: Skin lesions on common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from three sites in the Northwest Atlantic, USA.
abstract: Skin disease occurs frequently in many cetacean species across the globe; methods to categorize lesions have relied on photo-identification (photo-id), stranding, and by-catch data. The current study used photo-id data from four sampling months during 2009 to estimate skin lesion prevalence and type occurring on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from three sites along the southeast United States coast [Sarasota Bay, FL (SSB); near Brunswick and Sapelo Island, GA (BSG); and near Charleston, SC (CHS)]. The prevalence of lesions was highest among BSG dolphins (P = 0.587) and lowest in SSB (P = 0.380), and the overall prevalence was significantly different among all sites (p<0.0167). Logistic regression modeling revealed a significant reduction in the odds of lesion occurrence for increasing water temperatures (OR = 0.92; 95%CI:0.906-0.938) and a significantly increased odds of lesion occurrence for BSG dolphins (OR = 1.39; 95%CI:1.203-1.614). Approximately one-third of the lesioned dolphins from each site presented with multiple types, and population differences in lesion type occurrence were observed (p<0.05). Lesions on stranded dolphins were sampled to determine the etiology of different lesion types, which included three visually distinct samples positive for herpesvirus. Although generally considered non-fatal, skin disease may be indicative of animal health or exposure to anthropogenic or environmental threats, and photo-id data provide an efficient and cost-effective approach to document the occurrence of skin lesions in free-ranging populations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America. leslie.burdett@noaa.gov
authors.forename: Leslie Burdett
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: Dave S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Rotstein
authors.forename: Randall S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barleycorn
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Balmer
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Speakman
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Zolman
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stolen
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: McFee
authors.forename: Tracey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Teri K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Rowles
authors.forename: Lori H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Schwacke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean / Q000453:epidemiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D050681:Bottle-Nosed Dolphin; D019295:Computational Biology; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D016015:Logistic Models; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018157:Parapoxvirus / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D015144:Southeastern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers