Photobacterium damselae subspecies damselae Pneumonia in Dead, Stranded Bottlenose Dolphin, Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Photobacterium damselae subspecies damselae, an abundant, generalist marine pathogen, has been reported in various cetaceans worldwide. We report a bottlenose dolphin in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that was found stranded and dead. The dolphin had a severe case of chronic suppurative pneumonia and splenic lymphoid depletion caused by this pathogen.

Keywords

• Photobacterium damselae
• marine mammals
• bottlenose dolphin
• stranded
• Tursiops truncatus
• pneumonia