title: Edwardsiella tarda sepsis in a live-stranded sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus).
abstract: Whale strandings remain poorly understood, although bacterial infections have been suggested to contribute. We isolated Edwardsiella tarda from the blood of a stranded sperm whale. The pathogen was identified with MALDI-TOF MS, confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and quantified in blood by qPCR. We report the first case of sepsis in a sperm whale. The zoonotic potential of E. tarda and the possible role of bacterial infections in the enigmatic strandings of cetaceans are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Piet.Cools@Ugent.be
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cools
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haelters
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lopes dos Santos Santiago
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Claeys
authors.forename: Jerina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boelens
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leroux-Roels
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaneechoutte
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deschaght
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020609:Edwardsiella tarda / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004756:Enterobacteriaceae Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D018805:Sepsis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D050661:Sperm Whale / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Edwardsiella tarda; Emerging pathogen; Sepsis; Sperm whale; Stranding; Zoonosis