Mediterranean Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) Threatened by Dolphin MorbilliVirus

During 2011-2013, dolphin morbillivirus was molecularly identified in 4 stranded fin whales from the Mediterranean Sea. Nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein, and hemagglutinin gene sequences of the identified strain were highly homologous with those of a morbillivirus that caused a 2006-2007 epidemic in the Mediterranean. Dolphin morbillivirus represents a serious threat for fin whales

Chronic Morbilliviral Encephalitis in a Young Striped Dolphin from Italy

A young male striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) found stranded in November 2009 was affected by a chronic non-suppurative encephalitis, with prominent mononuclear cell perivascular cuffs, neuronal degeneration, microgliosis, neuronophagia and occasional presence of multinucleate syncytia. Immunohistochemical and biomolecular investigations for Morbillivirus were positive exclusively from the brain, but not from the cerebellum nor from any other tissue, with morbilliviral antigen being detected in neurons and astrocytes. A low neutralizing antibody titer (1:10) against Morbillivirus (CDV) was also found, with no simultaneous presence of anti-Brucella antibodies. The main reason why the present case appears to be of interest is provided by its peculiar neuro-histopathologic, immunohistochemical and biomolecular features, with Morbillivirus antigenic and genomic positivity being exclusively confined to the brain of this dolphin, which may have developed a transplacentally-acquired infection

A New Multilocus Sequence Typing Scheme and Its Application for the Characterization of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae Associated with Mortality in Cetaceans

Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (PDD) is a known pathogen of fish, humans and marine mammals. In this study, a Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) scheme based on six housekeeping genes (glp, gyrB, metG, pnt, pyrC and toxR) was developed to better understand the PDD population structure and used to type 73 PDD isolates from cetaceans, mainly striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) involved in mortality episodes, and from a few marine chelonians. Five reference ATCC strains were also included in the study. Typing allowed the discrimination of groups of PDD strains isolated from different host species, at different times and from different geographic areas, suggesting that a clonal PDD group may have spread in the Tyrrhenian sea at the time of an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) among cetaceans, mainly striped dolphins, occurred in early 2013 along the Italian western coasts

Reproducibility and Feasibility of Classification and National Guidelines for Histological Diagnosis of Canine Mammary Gland Tumours: A Multi-Institutional Ring Study

Histological diagnosis of Canine Mammary Tumours (CMTs) provides the basis for proper treatment and follow-up. Nowadays, its accuracy is poorly understood and variable interpretation of histological criteria leads to a lack of standardisation and impossibility to compare studies. This study aimed to quantify the reproducibility of histological diagnosis and grading in CMTs. A blinded ring test on 36 CMTs was performed by 15 veterinary pathologists with different levels of education, after discussion of critical points on the Davis-Thompson Foundation Classification and providing consensus guidelines. Kappa statistics were used to compare the interobserver variability. The overall concordance rate of diagnostic interpretations of WP on identification of hyperplasia-dysplasia/benign/malignant lesions showed a substantial agreement (average k ranging from 0.66 to 0.82, with a k-combined of 0.76). Instead, outcomes on ICD-O-3.2 morphological code /diagnosis of histotype had only a moderate agreement (average k ranging from 0.44 and 0.64, with a k-combined of 0.54). The results demonstrated that standardised classification and consensus guidelines can produce moderate to substantial agreement; however, further efforts are needed to increase this agreement in distinguishing benign versus malignant lesions and in histological grading. View Full-Tex

Multidisciplinary studies on a sick-leader syndrome-associated mass stranding of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) along the Adriatic coast of Italy

Mass strandings of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are rare in the Mediterranean Sea. Nevertheless, in 2014 a pod of 7 specimens stranded alive along the Italian coast of the Central Adriatic Sea: 3 individuals died on the beach after a few hours due to internal damages induced by prolonged recumbency; the remaining 4 whales were refloated after great efforts. All the dead animals were genetically related females; one was pregnant. All the animals were infected by dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) and the pregnant whale was also affected by a severe nephropathy due to a large kidney stone. Other analyses ruled out other possible relevant factors related to weather conditions or human activities. The results of multidisciplinary post-mortem analyses revealed that the 7 sperm whales entered the Adriatic Sea encountering adverse weather conditions and then kept heading northward following the pregnant but sick leader of the pod, thereby reaching the stranding site. DMV infection most likely played a crucial role in impairing the health condition and orientation abilities of the whales. They did not steer back towards deeper waters, but eventually stranded along the Central Adriatic Sea coastline, a real trap for sperm whales

Preliminary Assessment of Tumor-Associated Tissue Eosinophilia (TATE) in Canine Mast Cell Tumors: Prevalence and Prognostic Relevance and Its Association with Neoangiogenesis

Mast cell tumor (MCT) is the most common malignant skin tumor in dogs. In order to gain more information on the prognostic markers in MCT, the role of the eosinophil granulocytes infiltrates was investigated and assessed by the evaluation of tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) in 87 canine cutaneous MCTs. In human medicine, high TATE are often described in highly angiogenic tumors: we therefore assessed the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in neoplastic mast cells. TATE and VEGF expression were compared between themselves, with histological grading, immunohistochemical expression of KIT and Ki-67, and with the recurrence. We found a statistically significant correlation between TATE and Patnaik grading (p = 0.041), Kiupel grading (p = 0.022), immunohistochemical KIT expression (p = 0.015), and tumor recurrence (p = 0.000). No associations were observed with Ki-67 and VEGF expression. This is the first evaluation of TATE and its prognostic value in canine MCTs in veterinary oncology. This study suggest that this investigation could be an important source of information for this tumor and for other neoplasms

Is the Loggerhead Caretta caretta a good indicator of plastic ingestion also at local scale?

The European Commission drafted the 2008/56/EC Marine Strategy Framework Directive with the aim to achieve a Good Environmental Status (GES). In 2011 Italy promoted the Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta, Linnaeus 1758) as target species for monitoring the amount and composition of litter ingested by marine animals and then it has been accepted among MSFD Indicators and under the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention ecological objective, at sub-regional level. 120 death loggerhead CCL ranging from 21 to 80 cm (average = 54.9 cm) have been collected stranded or by-catch along Latium and Sardinian coasts, Italy (Western Mediterranean sub-Region). Plastic ingestion has been detected with a frequency of occurrence FO=54.2%. In total, 106.138 g (dry mass) and 1103 items (abundance) of marine litter were collected with an average value of 0.892 ± 0.196 g and 9.27 ± 1.95 items. Among the impacted turtles, parts of plastic bags and other sheet fragments (USE she) were the main categories in terms of abundance (17.23 ± 3.35 items). At local level, FO%, dry mass and number of items between the two areas (Latium: FO = 79.0%, average g= 1.553 ± 0.354, average n Items = 14.76 ± 3.53; Sardinia: FO = 27.6% average g=0.173 ± 0.059, average n Items= 3.30 ± 0.95) showed significant differences and groups structure was confirmed by nonhierarchical cluster analysis. This study shows that, even if sea turtles are migratory species and marine litter move according to the current and tide, the loggerhead can give information on plastic pollution also at local scale

The presence of <em>Brucella ceti</em> ST26 in a striped dolphin (<em>Stenella coeruleoalba</em>) with meningoencephalitis from the Mediterranean Sea

International audienceBrucella spp. was isolated from brain, lung and intestinal lymph nodes of a dead adult male striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) found stranded on the Tyrrhenian coast (Tuscany, Italy) of the Mediterranean Sea in February 2012. Brucella spp. was associated with moderate to severe lesions of meningoencephalitis. A co-infection by Toxoplasma gondii was also demonstrated at brain level by means of molecular and histopathologic methods. The Brucella isolate was further characterized based on a fragment-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach, consisting of a set of five specific PCRs, targeting specific chromosomal IS711 locations for marine mammal Brucellae, as described previously. The isolate was thus classified as Brucella ceti I; V fragment-positive (or B. ceti dolphin type), according to previous studies. Multi Locus Sequence Analysis demonstrated that the isolate belongs to Sequence Type 26, while omp2 (omp2a and omp2b genes) sequence analysis further confirmed the isolate belonged to this group of strains. This is the first report of Brucella spp. from marine mammals in the Mediterranean Sea, and represents a further observation that this strain group is associated with hosts of the Family Delphinidae, and particularly with the striped dolphins, also in the Mediterranean area, thus constituting a further biological hazard of concern for this vulnerable subpopulation