Pulmonary Vascular Proliferation and Lungworm (Stenurus ovatus) in a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops turncatus)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. A female adult bottlenose dolphin suddenly died at 17 days after the capture. Macroscopically, severe pulmonary congestive edema was found. Histopathology revealed many lungworms in the bronchioli and the worms were identified as Stenurus ovatus. Variously sized vessels proliferated around the lesioned bronchioli. Based on these findings, chronic bronchopneumonia due to the lungworm was diagnosed and vascular proliferation was similar to angiomatosis recently reported in Atlantic bottlenose dolphin.

Eighteen-Year Study of South Australian Dolphins Shows Variation in Lung Nematodes by Season, Year, Age Class, and Location

“…These results are in contrast to studies of the harbor porpoise in which the number of lung nematodes did not differ between young and old animals (Balbuena et al, 1994). Other studies have shown that young odontocetes are infected with lung nematodes (Woodward et al, 1969;Balbuena et al, 1994;Parsons et al, 1999;Parsons and Jefferson, 2000;Kuramochi et al, 2000;Bossart et al, 2003;Kuwamura et al, 2007;Stockin et al, 2009), raising the question of how the parasites are transmitted. Three possibilities have been suggested: 1) via the placenta, 2) via the milk, and 3) via an intermediate host as a prey species.…”

“…Those reported from common bottlenose dolphins include Stenurus spp. from Japan (Kuwamura et al, 2007) and the Black Sea (Tsocheva et al, 1992); Halocercus spp. (including H. lagenorhynchi) from South Australia (Johnston and Mawson, 1941), the Black Sea (Tsocheva et al, 1992), and Florida (Dailey et al, 1991); and Pseudalius inflexus from the Black Sea (Tsocheva et al, 1992).…”

“…Studies have been conducted in Europe, the USA, Japan, and Hong Kong (Measures, 2001) but these locations are likely to be areas of high observer effort rather than true hot spots of nematode infection in marine mammals. Most studies have concentrated on the taxonomy of the nematodes (Baylis and Daubney, 1925;Johnston and Mawson, 1941;Arnold and Gaskin, 1975;Raga et al, 1987;Balbuena et al, 1994;Gibson et al, 1998;Lehnert et al, 2005) or the pathology of host species (Testi and Pilleri, 1969;Woodard et al, 1969;Dailey and Stroud, 1978;Viale, 1981;Tsocheva et al, 1992;Parsons et al, 1999;Siebert et al, 2001;Bossart et al, 2003;Kuwamura et al, 2007). Of the cetaceans, the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) has been particularly well studied, with studies in the Baltic Sea finding a relationship between water pollution and lung nematode infections (Siebert et al, 2001).…”

Şişe Burunlu Bir Yunusta (Tursiops truncatus) Patolojik ve Parazitolojik İncelemeler

“…However, it has been reported that parasite-dependent severe inner ear infections may cause dysregulation in hearing and navigation abilities [21] . Although some parasitic larvae were also seen in alveoli in the case of S. minor, not detecting any chronic lesion or adult parasite sections was interpreted as a sign of early infection in this case [14][15][16]19] .…”

“…In one study, the prevalence of lungworm infections was determined to be 77% in the stranded bottlenose dolphins [15] . To date, Stenurus ovatus, Halocercus lagenorhynchi, Pharurus alatus, and Skrjabinalius cryptocephalus related verminous pneumonia [1,15,16] was reported in the bottlenose dolphins; but there was no case related to S. minor. It is reported that the prevalence of S. minor infection of harbor dolphins on the coast of Norway, Iceland, Greenland and South America was 66-100% [17,18] .…”