title: Fetal distress and in utero pneumonia in perinatal dolphins during the Northern Gulf of Mexico unusual mortality event.
abstract: An unusual mortality event (UME) involving primarily common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus of all size classes stranding along coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, USA, started in early 2010 and continued into 2014. During this northern Gulf of Mexico UME, a distinct cluster of perinatal dolphins (total body length <115 cm) stranded in Mississippi and Alabama during 2011. The proportion of annual dolphin strandings that were perinates between 2009 and 2013 were compared to baseline strandings (2000-2005). A case-reference study was conducted to compare demographics, histologic lesions, and Brucella sp. infection prevalence in 69 UME perinatal dolphins to findings from 26 reference perinates stranded in South Carolina and Florida outside of the UME area. Compared to reference perinates, UME perinates were more likely to have died in utero or very soon after birth (presence of atelectasis in 88 vs. 15%, p < 0.0001), have fetal distress (87 vs. 27%, p < 0.0001), and have pneumonia not associated with lungworm infection (65 vs. 19%, p = 0.0001). The percentage of perinates with Brucella sp. infections identified via lung PCR was higher among UME perinates stranding in Mississippi and Alabama compared to reference perinates (61 vs. 24%, p = 0.01), and multiple different Brucella omp genetic sequences were identified in UME perinates. These results support that from 2011 to 2013, during the northern Gulf of Mexico UME, bottlenose dolphins were particularly susceptible to late-term pregnancy failures and development of in utero infections including brucellosis.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Pathology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Maywood, IL 60153.
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Colegrove
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Venn-Watson
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Litz
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kinsel
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Terio
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fougeres
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ewing
authors.forename: D Ann
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Pabst
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: McLellan
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raverty
authors.forename: Jeremiah
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saliki
authors.forename: Spencer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fire
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rappucci
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bowen-Stevens
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Noble
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costidis
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Ruth H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Carmichael
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chevis
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hatchett
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shannon
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tumlin
authors.forename: Gretchen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lovewell
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: McFee
authors.forename: Teresa K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Rowles
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050681:Bottle-Nosed Dolphin; D002002:Brucella / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005316:Fetal Distress / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D060851:Gulf of America / Q000453:epidemiology; D018103:Morbillivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018185:Morbillivirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011247:Pregnancy