A 5 yr old, 184 kg, and 262 cm total length female bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus was found dead in a display after bloody discharge from the blowhole was observed 3 h prior to death. Pathological examination revealed fibrinous bronchopneumonia with prominent areas of necrosis (sequestra) and numerous Gram-negative bacilli within alveoli and in blood vessels of the lungs and liver and between muscle fibers. The cause of death was attributed to septicemia. Often, cases of fibrinous bronchopneumonia are characterized by bacteremia in the latter stages of infection, resulting in the death of the animal. Septicemia likely accounts for the ecchymoses and petechiae noted on the spleen, pancreas, forestomach, lungs, visceral peritoneum, and small intestine. Additional lesions included hemothorax, stable red frothy fluid in the trachea, and lymphoid depletion in the spleen and lymph nodes. Pure growth of Morganella morganii was isolated from the lungs, blood, liver, and blowhole mucosa. Sequencing of 16s rRNA of the isolated bacteria showed more than 99.6% identity with M. morganii strain FDAARGOS_172. To our knowledge, this is the first report of fatal fibrinonecrotizing bronchopneumonia associated with M. morganii infection in a cetacean.KEY WORDS: Gram-negative bacilli · 16s RNA · Lungs · Sequestra · Hemothorax
Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherDis Aquat Org 127: [41][42][43][44][45][46][47] 2017 ( Thornton et al. 1998). It is also considered a possible cause of swollen head syndrome in broiler chickens in Japan (Tanaka et al. 1995). Respiratory infections associated with this bacterium have been described in piglets (Ono et al. 2001), a jaguar (Choi et al. 2002), a guinea pig (Vandenberge et al. 2013), and a rabbit (Roels et al. 2007).
CLINICAL HISTORYA 5 yr old juvenile female bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus with a body weight of 184 kg and a total length of 262 cm was transported from Japan to a new aquarium in South Korea. The dolphin was transferred by car from Wakayama to the port of Osaka, Japan (6 h journey including waiting time in the port), then ferried to Busan, Korea (19 h journey). Finally, the animal was transported to Ulsan Dolphinarium by car (3 h journey).Three months later the animal acutely developed signs of anorexia, slight fever, and abnormal vertical movement in the pool. Bloody discharge from the mouth and blowhole as well as bloody feces were observed 6 h prior to death. Fluids (0.9% NaCl 1000 ml, intraveneous [IV]) were administered with antibiotics, including enrofloxacin 900 mg (intramuscular [IM]), gentamicin 720 mg (IM), cefazolin 3500 mg (IV), and cimetidine 1000 mg (IV).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Necropsy and histopathologyA full necropsy was performed 19 h after death, and representative samples from multiple organs were fixed in 10% neutral formalin and submitted for histopathological examination. An additional set of tissues were sampled and individually labeled for ancillary diagnostic studies. Slides were prepared ...
