Venn-Watson Stephanie, Daniels Risa, Smith Cynthia
National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California 92106, USA.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2012 Jul 25;99(3):237-42. doi: 10.3354/dao02471.
Pneumonia is one of the most common causes of morbidity in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus. To better understand associations of pneumonia with demographics, microbiology, pathology, and histopathology, a retrospective study on 42 dolphins from the US Navy Marine Mammal Program dolphin population was conducted (1980 to 2010). A total of 21 (50%) of the dolphins evaluated had pneumonia confirmed by histopathology. Bacterial and fungal pneumonia was present in 42.9 and 28.6% of cases (9 and 6 cases), respectively, with Staphylococcus aureus as the most common confirmed pathogen (4 cases, 19%). Other pathogens identified as the cause of pneumonia were Cryptococcus neoformans, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, Histoplasma capsulatum, parainfluenza virus, Proteus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus zooepidemicus. Neither sex nor age was a predictor of pneumonia. While many of the infections involved disseminated disease, lungs were consistently the most severely affected organs. The present study demonstrates the high susceptibility of dolphins to respiratory infections. Areas that warrant further investigation include eosinophilic pneumonia, chronic infections, co-infections, and metabolic or iron-storage diseases. There is a continuing need to improve the early diagnosis and effective treatment of pneumonia in dolphins.
肺炎是宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）发病的最常见原因之一。为了更好地了解肺炎与人口统计学、微生物学、病理学和组织病理学之间的关联，对美国海军海洋哺乳动物计划中的42只海豚（1980年至2010年）进行了一项回顾性研究。经组织病理学证实，共有21只（50%）接受评估的海豚患有肺炎。细菌和真菌性肺炎分别占病例的42.9%和28.6%（9例和6例），金黄色葡萄球菌是最常见的确诊病原体（4例，19%）。其他被确定为肺炎病因的病原体有新型隐球菌、猪红斑丹毒丝菌、荚膜组织胞浆菌、副流感病毒、变形杆菌属、铜绿假单胞菌和马链球菌兽疫亚种。性别和年龄均不是肺炎的预测因素。虽然许多感染涉及播散性疾病，但肺始终是受影响最严重的器官。本研究表明海豚对呼吸道感染高度易感。值得进一步研究的领域包括嗜酸性粒细胞性肺炎、慢性感染、合并感染以及代谢或铁储存疾病。持续需要改善海豚肺炎的早期诊断和有效治疗。
