Fenton Heather, Daoust Pierre-Yves, Forzán María J, Vanderstichel Raphaël V, Ford John K B, Spaven Lisa, Lair Stéphane, Raverty Stephen
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2017 Jan 24;122(3):171-183. doi: 10.3354/dao03080.
There is increasing public interest in the overall health of the marine environment. Harbor porpoises Phocoena phocoena have a coastal distribution, and stranded animals function as sentinels for population and ecosystem health. The goal of this retrospective study was to join datasets from the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific coasts of Canada to investigate causes of morbidity and mortality in this species. A total of 241 necropsy records were reviewed including 147 (61%) from the Pacific region and 94 (39%) from the Atlantic region from 1988 to 2011. A cause of death could be determined with confidence in 118 (49%) of these cases. Of these 118 cases, the leading cause of mortality for both regions, together and separately, was infectious disease. In the Pacific region, this was followed by traumatic and anthropogenic causes, whereas in the Atlantic region, it was followed by emaciation/starvation, mortality of dependent calves, and anthropogenic causes. Pathogens of potential zoonotic significance or indicative of environmental contamination, e.g. Salmonella sp. and Cryptococcus gattii, were identified. Numerous parasitic species were observed within the lungs, liver, stomach, middle ear, and subcutaneous tissues, although they were usually interpreted as incidental findings. Anthropogenic causes may be underrepresented as they are notoriously difficult to diagnose with certainty, thereby making up a proportion of the 'unknown causes of death' (51%) category. Improved standardization of data collection and documentation is required to better understand harbor porpoise and ecosystem health.
公众对海洋环境整体健康的关注度日益提高。港湾鼠海豚（Phocoena phocoena）分布于沿海地区，搁浅动物可作为种群和生态系统健康的哨兵。这项回顾性研究的目的是整合来自加拿大西部大西洋沿岸和东部太平洋沿岸的数据集，以调查该物种发病和死亡的原因。共审查了241份尸检记录，包括1988年至2011年期间来自太平洋地区的147份（61%）和来自大西洋地区的94份（39%）。在其中118例（49%）中可以确定死亡原因。在这118例中，两个地区共同以及单独来看，死亡的主要原因都是传染病。在太平洋地区，其次是创伤和人为原因，而在大西洋地区，其次是消瘦/饥饿、依赖幼崽的死亡和人为原因。鉴定出了具有潜在人畜共患病意义或表明环境污染的病原体，例如沙门氏菌属和加氏隐球菌。在肺、肝、胃、中耳和皮下组织中观察到了许多寄生虫种类，不过它们通常被解释为偶然发现。人为原因可能未得到充分体现，因为它们 notoriously难以确切诊断，从而在“未知死亡原因”（51%）类别中占了一定比例。需要改进数据收集和记录的标准化，以更好地了解港湾鼠海豚和生态系统健康。
