Mycoplasma phocarhinis sp. nov. and Mycoplasma phocacerebrale sp. nov., Two New Species from Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina L.)

Abstract

A total of 120 mycoplasma strains were recovered from 97 of 265 diseased seals investigated during the seal epidemic in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea in 1988. Mycoplasmas were isolated from the respiratory tracts (including lungs), hearts, brains, and eyes of the seals. Thirty strains were filter cloned and investigated for their morphological, biochemical, and serological characteristics compared with the characteristics of previously described species. The results of an indirect immunofluorescence test, a growth inhibition test, and an immunobinding assay showed that these strains belong to two new species, for which the names MycopZasrna phocarhinis and Mycoplasrna phocacerebrde are proposed. M. phocarhinis (17 strains) did not ferment glucose or hydrolyze arginine but did reduce tetrazolium chloride and potassium tellurite and produced films and spots. M. phocacerebrale (13 strains) metabolized arginine but not glucose and produced phosphatase but did not reduce tetrazolium chloride and potassium tellurite. Both species lysed sheep erythrocytes but did not absorb sheep or guinea pig erythrocytes. The type strain of M. phocarhinis is strain 852 (= ATCC 49639), and the type strain of M. phocacerebrate is strain 1049 (= ATCC 49640).In 1988 mass mortality spread among the harbor seals (Phoca vitulina L.) of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.More than 18,000 seals died because of an acute disease characterized by pneumonia, skin lesions, diarrhoea, polyarthritis, nervous signs, and abortions in pregnant females (9,10,12,16,17,(19)(20)(21). In addition to several viruses (9,10, 19-21), mycoplasmas were isolated from a large number of the diseased seals (12). Altogether 122 mycoplasma strains were recovered from 265 diseased seals investigated.In this paper we report the isolation details of these strains, describe our taxonomic examination of 30 selected strains compared with previously described species of Mollicutes, and discuss our findings in relation to the requirements for description of new species. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seals.Investigations for mycoplasmas were performed on 265 seals found moribund or dead along the coasts of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony (10,12,19). Organ materials from seals found dead were taken by M. Stede (Staatliches Veterinaruntersuchungsamt, Cuxhaven, Federal Republic of Germany). Samples from living animals were obtained from the Institute for Pathology, Tierarztliche Hochschule, Hannover, Federal Republic of Germany, where moribund seals were sacrificed for histological investigations, or from the seal orphanage at Norddeich, Federal Republic of Germany, where diseased seals were kept for treatment. Swabs were taken from noses, eyes, and throats of living animals. Samples of tracheae, lungs, hearts, livers, brains, kidneys, and spleens were obtained from dead or sacrificed animals.Cultivation of mycoplasmas. Homogenized organ materials and swabs were suspended in 2 ml of modified Friis medium (13). Portions (0.2 ml) of these suspensions were transferred to 2-ml portion...

Seal finger: A case report and review of the literature

“…The isolates were also identical to the Baltic Sea Mycoplasma strain M phocacerebrale but not the same as the New England strain M phocidae (18,23). This observation by Madoff et al (21) in 1991 was the first documented case of Mycoplasma as the causative agent of sealer's finger. Mycoplasma species are known to cause both arthritis and be passed from one species to another (24).…”

“…Later, in 1988 and 1989 in the Baltic Sea and North Sea during another mass mortality of seals, two new species -M phocacerebrale and Mycoplasma phocarhinis -were identified (21).…”

Mycoplasma phocidae sp. nov., Isolated from Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina L.)

“…Recently, Giebel et al described M. phocarhinis and M. phocacerebrale, which were isolated from seals suffering from an epizootic of respiratory disease in the North Sea (11). These species are not related serologically to M. phocidae.…”

Lesions Associated With a Novel Mycoplasma Sp. In California Sea Lions (Zalophus Californianus) Undergoing Rehabilitation

“…The three species of mycoplasmas reported from phocids are Mycoplasma phocicerebrale, Mycoplasma phocae, and Mycoplasma phocirhinis (Kö -nigsson et al, 2001). Mycoplasmas were thought to have exacerbated pneumonia caused by an influenza virus in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) (Geraci et al, 1982;Madoff et al, 1982;Ruhnke and Madoff, 1992) and to have secondarily invaded the lungs of seals that died during an epizootic attributed to morbillivirus (Giebel et al, 1991). Other pathogens were involved in both of these disease outbreaks and the role of mycoplasmas in the pathogenesis of the pneumonias is not clear.…”