Clostridium perfringens septicemia in a long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis: an etiology of gas bubble accumulation in cetaceans.
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An adult female long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis live-stranded in La Jolla, California, USA, on July 30, 2012 and subsequently died on the beach. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed gas bubble accumulation in the vasculature, organ parenchyma, mandibular fat pads, and subdermal sheath as well as a gas-filled cavity within the liver, mild caudal abdominal effusion, and fluid in the uterus. Gross examination confirmed these findings and also identified mild ulcerations on the palate, ventral skin, and flukes, uterine necrosis, and multifocal parenchymal cavitations in the brain. Histological review demonstrated necrosis and round clear spaces interpreted as gas bubbles with associated bacterial rods within the brain, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. Anaerobic cultures of the lung, spleen, liver, bone marrow, and abdominal fluid yielded Clostridium perfringens, which was further identified as type A via a multiplex PCR assay. The gas composition of sampled bubbles was typical of putrefaction gases, which is consistent with the by-products of C. perfringens, a gas-producing bacterium. Gas bubble formation in marine mammals due to barotrauma, and peri- or postmortem off-gassing of supersaturated tissues and blood has been previously described. This case study concluded that a systemic infection of C. perfringens likely resulted in production of gas and toxins, causing tissue necrosis.
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One live-stranded long-beaked common dolphin, Delphinus capensis, beached in La Jolla, California, with systemic infection of C. perfringens type A, and one stranded sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, in Denmark had suspected infection associated with C. septicum.
“One live-stranded long-beaked common dolphin, Delphinus capensis, beached in La Jolla, California, with systemic infection of C. perfringens type A (Danil et al., 2014), and one stranded sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, in Denmark had suspected infection associated with C. septicum (Hansen et al., 2016).”
From Novel Lethal Clostridial Infection in Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris): Cause of the 2013 Unusual Mortality Event in the Indian River Lagoon (2022) · cites this paper as Danil et al., 2014
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Cited by
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Landsberg, J. H., Tabuchi, M., Rotstein, D. S., Subramaniam, K., Rodrigues, T. C. S., Waltzek, T. B., Stacy, N. I., Wilson, P. W., Kiryu, Y., Uzal, F. A., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Marine Science · doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.841857 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
- Authors
- Danil, K., St. Leger, J., Dennison, S., Bernaldo de Quirós, Y., Scadeng, M., Nilson, E., & Beaulieu, N.
- Affiliations
- NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- SeaWorld San Diego (US)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
- Corresponding author
- Danil, K
- Venue
- Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
- Publisher
- Inter-Research Science Center
- Published
- 2014-10-16
- Volume
- 111
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 183-190
- ISSN
- 0177-5103 (ISSN-L)
- 1616-1580
- OpenAlex
- W2035076365
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 0.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Acceda (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) (submittedVersion)
- Open Access Server of the Woods Hole Scientific Community (Woods Hole Scientific Community) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
- Keywords
- Clostridium perfringens, septicemia, gas embolism, Delphinus capensis, long-beaked common dolphin, cetacean disease, tissue necrosis, live stranding, marine mammal pathology, anaerobic infections
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Clostridium perfringens, Female, Gas Gangrene, Fatal Outcome, Sepsis, Common Dolphins
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