Between 1999 and 2005, 233 stranded cetaceans (comprising 19 species) were reported in the waters of the Canary Islands. Of these, 138/233 (59.2%) were subjected to a complete or partial standardized necropsy, including 4 Balaenopteridae, 9 Physeteridae, 8 Kogiidae, 27 Ziphiidae and 90 Delphinidae. Of these, 46/138 (33.3%) cetaceans were diagnosed with anthropogenic pathological categories (i.e. the cause of death was anthropogenic). These included fishing interaction (bycatch) (19 individuals), 'atypical' mass stranding events linked to naval exercises (13), ship collisions (8) and other anthropogenic-related pathology (6). 'Natural' (i.e. non-anthropogenic) causes of death accounted for another 82/138 (59.4%) cases, including infectious and non-infectious diseases (63), neonatal pathology (8), intra- and interspecific interactions (6) and mass strandings (5). The cause(s) of death could not be determined in 10/138 (7.3%) necropsied animals. The most common causes of death were ship collisions in 6/9 (66.6%) Physeteridae, 'atypical' mass stranding linked to naval exercises in 13/27 (48.1%) Ziphiidae, and 'natural' infectious and non-infectious diseases in 55/90 (61.1%) Delphinidae. Interaction with fishing activities was established as cause of death in 15/90 (16.7%) Delphinidae. These data show that a range of anthropogenic and natural single and mass mortality events occur in multiple cetacean species stranded in the Canary Islands.

This study describes the pathologic findings and most probable causes of death (CD) of 224 cetaceans stranded along the coastline of the Canary Islands (Spain) over a 7-year period, 2006–2012. Most probable CD, grouped as pathologic categories (PCs), was identified in 208/224 (92.8%) examined animals. Within natural PCs, those associated with good nutritional status represented 70/208 (33.6%), whereas, those associated with significant loss of nutritional status represented 49/208 (23.5%). Fatal intra- and interspecific traumatic interactions were 37/208 (17.8%). Vessel collisions included 24/208 (11.5%). Neonatal/perinatal pathology involved 13/208 (6.2%). Fatal interaction with fishing activities comprised 10/208 (4.8%). Within anthropogenic PCs, foreign body-associated pathology represented 5/208 (2.4%). A CD could not be determined in 16/208 (7.7%) cases. Natural PCs were dominated by infectious and parasitic disease processes. Herein, our results suggest that between 2006 and 2012, in the Canary Islands, direct human activity appeared responsible for 19% of cetaceans deaths, while natural pathologies accounted for 81%. These results, integrating novel findings and published reports, aid in delineating baseline knowledge on cetacean pathology and may be of value to rehabilitators, caregivers, diagnosticians and future conservation policies.

Abstract. Porcine enzootic pneumonia (PEN), caused by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mh), has been described in pigs in all geographic areas. The disease is characterized by high morbidity and low mortality rates in intensive swine production systems. A morphologic and immunohistochemical study was done to determine the cellular populations present in lung parenchyma of infected pigs, with special attention to the bronchusassociated lymphoid tissue (BALT). Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies were used for the detection of antigens of Mh, T lymphocytes (CD3 ϩ , CD4 ϩ , and CD8 ϩ ), IgG ϩ or IgA ϩ lymphocytes, and cells containing lysozyme, S-100 protein, major histocompatibility complex class II antigen or myeloid-histiocyte antigen. Findings in lung tissues associated with Mh infection were catarrhal bronchointerstitial pneumonia, with infiltration of inflammatory cells in the lamina propria of bronchi and bronchioles and alveolar septa. Hyperplasia of mononuclear cells in the BALT areas was the most significant histologic change. The BALT showed a high morphologic and cellular organization. Macrophages and B lymphocytes were the main cellular components of germinal centers. T lymphocytes were primarily located in perifollicular areas of the BALT, lamina propria and within the airway epithelium, and plasma cells containing IgG or IgA at the periphery of the BALT, in the lamina propria of bronchi and bronchioles, in alveolar septa, and around bronchial submucosal glands. The hyperplastic BALT in PEN cases consisted of macrophages, dendritic cells, T and B lymphocytes, and IgG ϩ and IgA ϩ plasma cells. CD4 ϩ cells predominated over CD8 ϩ cells. Local humoral immunity appears to play an important role in the infection.

Abstract. This article describes the gross, histopathologic, and ultrastructural findings of the livers of cetaceans stranded on the coast of the Canary Islands between 1992 and 2000. A total of 135 cetaceans were included in the study, among which 25 were common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), 23 Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), 19 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), and 15 other species of dolphins and whales. The most common lesion observed in these animals was a nonspecific chronic reactive hepatitis (47/135), followed by hyaline intracytoplasmic inclusions in hepatocytes (33/135). Parasitic cholangitis was detected in 8/135 animals, whereas hepatic lipidosis was presented in 7/135 animals. The ultrastructure of hyaline hepatocytic cytoplasmic inclusions is described, and possible causes of these inclusions are discussed.Key words: Cetaceans; dolphins; hepatic lesions; liver; ultrastructure.Information on cetaceans found stranded on the coast of the Canary Islands has been collected by the Histology and Pathology Unit of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria University during an 8-year period (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000). One hundred and thirty-five cetacean strandings occurred on the shores of these islands, involving both single and multiple strandings of adults and juvenile cetaceans, but to date there have been no surveys of the causes of illness in the wild, free-living dolphin and whales found dead in the Canary Islands.In the study of the stranded cetaceans, the liver, as in other studies, 2,12,13 was extensively analyzed and a variety of lesions that merited further investigation were found. Chronic liver disease of unknown cause is a common ailment in dolphins and is clinically characterized by wasting but is rarely characterized by jaundice. Hepatic lesions consist of hepatocyte degeneration, fatty change, and fibrosis. 33 Chronic liver disease is generally regarded as being nutritional in origin, but there is no definite evidence to support this. 19,33 Different types of acute hepatitis associated with nutritional or environmental toxins and biologic agents, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites, have also been reported in stranded dolphins. 30 Parasitic infections have been recognized amongst the pathologic changes found in marine mammals. 34 Campula spp. is a common trematode that primarily inhabits the bile and pancreatic ducts, stomach, and intestine of cetaceans. 36 Affected ducts are dilated, fibrosed, and infiltrated with mononuclear cells, and the epithelium is hyperplastic. 8,27 Dolphins, as other cetaceans, are at the top of the marine food chain, and they accumulate pollutants in their tissues during their life. Therefore, this species is an excellent bioindicator to evaluate contamination of the marine environment. Numerous studies have been carried out to analyze concentrations of pollutants in dolphins from different areas of the world. 1,[4][5][6]16 Despite some studies that have described hepatic lesions in stranded dolphins, 2,9,12,22,29...

Veterinary Record (1998) 142, 248-249 MELANOMAS represent 6 to 15 per cent of skin tumours seen in the horse (Pulley and Stannard 1990). They are most common in ageing grey horses and result in multiple dermal tumours, primarily involving the ventral tail, perineum and external genitalia (Baker and Lehland 1975). They are described as slow growing, locally invasive masses, that usually do not metastasise (Pulley and Stannard 1990).Neoplasia causing neurological dysfunction has been reported as a rare occurrence in the horse (Traver and others 1977). Secondary neoplasms that cause spinal cord compression and ataxia in horses include lymphosarcoma, plasma cell myeloma, pheochromocytoma and fibrosarcoma (Schott and others 1990). This report relates a case of posterior paresis, bladder paralysis and perineal anaesthesia due to a metastatic melanoma at the lumbar level of the vertebral column of an aged grey Arabian horse.A 12-year-old female grey Arabian horse was observed in lateral recumbency with an acute onset of paralysis after a 10-day history of paresis affecting the pelvic limbs. The horse was capable of adopting sternal recumbency to eat and drink to maintain hydration but was anorectic. Other clinical signs included tachypnoea, hyperthermia, hyperaemia and oedema of the conjunctiva. Physical examination showed numerous black cutaneous nodules, 2 to 6 cm in diameter, on the ventral tail and surrounding the anus. It was reported that none of the masses had enlarged over the previous four years.Neurological examinations revealed paraparesis and paralysis of the pelvic limbs and tail. The pelvic limbs also showed hyporeflexia, hypotonia and depression of the superficial pain perception. Voluntary movement, muscle tone, spinal reflexes and cutaneous sensation were normal in the thoracic limbs. The animal also showed faecal and urinary incontinence, and decreased anal tone and anal sphincter reflexes. The rectum and colon were distended with faeces and the bladder was enlarged and was easily expressed manually. Two firm masses were detected at the lumbar region by rectal exploration. The nodules were large, unilobed, firmly adherent to the ventral surface of the lumbar vertebrae and slightly more pronounced to the left of the midline. Pulse strength was normal in the external iliac arteries. Due to the poor prognosis the horse was euthanased by an intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbitone followed by exsanguination.A microscopic examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) taken immediately after euthanasia at the atlanto-occipital and lumbosacral levels did not reveal evidence of neoplastic cells. A full necropsy was performed and two pigmented black masses were found on the longitudinal section of the vertebral column in the ventral extradural space at the levels of the second and fourth lumbar vertebrae: their linear measurements were 12 cm and 15 cm, respectively. The masses infiltrated the musculature of the lumbar vertebral areas and the FIG 1: Longitudinal section at the lumbar level of the vertebral c...

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The vascular system of Cuvier's beaked whales (CBW) (Ziphius cavirostris; family Ziphiidae), an extremely deep, prolonged-diving cetacean, is increasingly receiving anatomic and physiologic study due to possible anthropogenic interactions; however, vascular pathology rarely has been reported in this species. Thirteen CBW stranded in the Canary Islands from June 2008 to June 2014 were autopsied. A careful dissection of the thoracic and abdominal vasculature was performed on these animals. All had moderate to severe and extensive chronic fibrosing arteritis with aneurysms, hemorrhages, and thrombosis primarily involving the mesenteric and gastroepiploic arteries and the thoracic and abdominal aorta. Microscopically, the lesions varied from subacute subintimal hemorrhages and severe neutrophilic, eosinophilic, and histiocytic dissecting arteritis with intralesional nematode larvae to marked, chronic, fibrosing arteritis with thickening and distortion of the vascular wall with calcification and occasional cartilage metaplasia. In addition, adult nematodes in renal arteries and veins, renal parenchyma and/or ureter were identified morphologically as Crassicauda sp. Nucleic acid sequenced from renal nematodes from 2 animals yielded closest nucleotide identity to C. magna The pathogenesis is proposed to involve a host response to larval migration from the intestine to the kidney through the mesenteric arteries, abdominal aorta, and renal arteries. Severe consequences for such lesions are possible and could vary from reduced vascular compliance to chronic renal disease and predisposition to the development of disseminated intravascular coagulation and multiorgan failure. Severe chronic arteritis in CBW is associated with renal parasitism by Crassicauda spp.

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