MERCK VETERINARY MANUAL (8TH ED.) Chapter on Marine Mammals

The Merck Manual, 8th Edition

Marine mammals as sentinel species for oceans and human health.

The long-term consequences of climate change and potential environmental degradation are likely to include aspects of disease emergence in marine plants and animals. In turn, these emerging diseases may have epizootic potential, zoonotic implications, and a complex pathogenesis involving other cofactors such as anthropogenic contaminant burden, genetics, and immunologic dysfunction. The concept...

The genomic structure of Brucella strains isolated from marine mammals gives clues to evolutionary history within the genus.

The genomic structure and the restriction maps were studied in 24 Brucella strains isolated from marine mammals. From SpeI restriction profiles, the strains could be ascribed to three clonal groups, each corresponding to a specific host. Cross contamination between exclusively terrestrial and exclusively marine hosts is unlikely suggesting the divergence of the different species of the genus Br...

Identification of Lactobacillus strains with probiotic features from the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

AIMS In order to develop complementary health management strategies for marine mammals, we used culture-based and culture-independent approaches to identify gastrointestinal lactobacilli of the common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus. METHODS AND RESULTS We screened 307 bacterial isolates from oral and rectal swabs, milk and gastric fluid, collected from 38 dolphins in the U.S. Navy Mar...

The impacts of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals in the Persian Gulf; current status and need for future research

Abstract Sound generating human activities so-called “anthropogenic sound” have increased ambient sound levels considerably in aquatic habitats that are markedly diverse in time and space. Sound generating human activities is now recognized as a potential driver of environmental changes in marine habitats. Iran has 750 km coastline along the Caspian Sea located in the north and around 2250 km ...