Fluorescent microbead-based immunoassay for anti-Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae antibody detection in cetaceans

Abstract

A fluorescent microbead-based immunoassay (FMIA) for detection of antiErysipelothrix rhusiopathiae antibodies in pigs was adapted for use in cetaceans. The FMIA was validated and adjusted using serum samples from 10 vaccinated captive bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus collected between 1 and 13 mo after immunization. The technique was then used to analyze specimens from 15 free-ranging cetaceans stranded alive on the Valencian Mediterranean coast between 2006 and 2014: 11 striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba, 3 Risso's dolphins Grampus griseus and 1 bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus. One of these wild animals was confirmed to have died from E. rhusiopathiae septicemia, but no anti-E. rhusiopathiae antibodies were detected in its serum, pericardial fluid or milk samples. Another free-ranging individual, which lacked any signs or lesions that might be indicative of E. rhusiopathiae infection, showed high fluorescence intensity similar to that measured in captive dolphins at 6−13 mo after vaccination. These results suggest that this animal underwent an E. rhusiopathiae infection several months before stranding. The findings in the present study suggest that FMIA can be useful for detecting anti-E. rhusiopathiae antibodies in cetaceans, and its application to free-ranging animals is particularly interesting because of the great value of these specimens. Furthermore, the FMIA can be multiplexed to allow the determination of up to 100 analytes per sample in a single well, thereby reducing the cost, time and sample volume needed.

Evaluation of anti-Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae IgG response in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus to a commercial pig vaccine

“…Disease caused by Erysipelothrix has been recognized and confirmed in several species of dolphins and whales, both in human care and in the wild (Young et al 1997, Dunn et al 2001, Melero et al 2016. Two presentations of erysipelas have been reported in dolphins.…”