Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks
SIMPLE SUMMARY: Brucellosis, the disease caused by Brucella bacteria, is of emerging concern in marine-mammal populations worldwide due to its potential link to reproductive failure, yet is less well-studied than in terrestrial animals, such as cattle. To understand Brucella exposure and disease in...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:9367357 2023-05-15T15:16:17+02:00 Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks Thompson, Laura A. Goertz, Caroline E. C. Quakenbush, Lori T. Burek Huntington, Kathy Suydam, Robert S. Stimmelmayr, Raphaela Romano, Tracy A. 2022-07-29 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9367357/ https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151932 en eng MDPI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9367357/ http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12151932 © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). CC-BY Animals (Basel) Article Text 2022 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151932 2022-08-14T01:02:39Z SIMPLE SUMMARY: Brucellosis, the disease caused by Brucella bacteria, is of emerging concern in marine-mammal populations worldwide due to its potential link to reproductive failure, yet is less well-studied than in terrestrial animals, such as cattle. To understand Brucella exposure and disease in two populations of beluga, in Bristol Bay and the eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska, USA, this study screened animals for the presence of antibodies against the bacterium (serology), as well as tested for the direct presence of bacterial DNA or bacterial growth from tissue samples. More than half of all animals tested, from both populations, were positive for the presence of antibodies, providing evidence of exposure to Brucella. Few animals, however, were positive for the direct detection of Brucella DNA and none resulted in successful bacterial growth, suggesting a lack of active clinical disease. The high rate of exposure in these populations supports the need for long-term monitoring of beluga populations, particular those that are threatened or endangered, such as the Cook Inlet belugas. ABSTRACT: Among emerging threats to the Arctic is the introduction, spread, or resurgence of disease. Marine brucellosis is an emerging disease concern among free-ranging cetaceans and is less well-studied than terrestrial forms. To investigate marine-origin Brucella sp. exposure in two beluga stocks in Alaska, USA, this study used serological status as well as real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) and bacterial culture. In total, 55 live-captured–released belugas were tested for Brucella exposure in Bristol Bay (2008–2016) and 112 (8 live-captured; 104 subsistence-harvested) whales were tested in the eastern Chukchi Sea (2007–2017). In total, 73% percent of Bristol Bay live captures, 50% of Chukchi Sea live captures, and 66% of Chukchi Sea harvested belugas were positive on serology. Only 10 of 69 seropositive belugas were rtPCR positive in at least one tissue. Only one seropositive animal was PCR positive in both the spleen and ... Text Arctic Beluga Beluga* Chukchi Chukchi Sea Alaska PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Chukchi Sea Animals 12 15 1932 |
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Article Thompson, Laura A. Goertz, Caroline E. C. Quakenbush, Lori T. Burek Huntington, Kathy Suydam, Robert S. Stimmelmayr, Raphaela Romano, Tracy A. Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks |
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SIMPLE SUMMARY: Brucellosis, the disease caused by Brucella bacteria, is of emerging concern in marine-mammal populations worldwide due to its potential link to reproductive failure, yet is less well-studied than in terrestrial animals, such as cattle. To understand Brucella exposure and disease in two populations of beluga, in Bristol Bay and the eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska, USA, this study screened animals for the presence of antibodies against the bacterium (serology), as well as tested for the direct presence of bacterial DNA or bacterial growth from tissue samples. More than half of all animals tested, from both populations, were positive for the presence of antibodies, providing evidence of exposure to Brucella. Few animals, however, were positive for the direct detection of Brucella DNA and none resulted in successful bacterial growth, suggesting a lack of active clinical disease. The high rate of exposure in these populations supports the need for long-term monitoring of beluga populations, particular those that are threatened or endangered, such as the Cook Inlet belugas. ABSTRACT: Among emerging threats to the Arctic is the introduction, spread, or resurgence of disease. Marine brucellosis is an emerging disease concern among free-ranging cetaceans and is less well-studied than terrestrial forms. To investigate marine-origin Brucella sp. exposure in two beluga stocks in Alaska, USA, this study used serological status as well as real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) and bacterial culture. In total, 55 live-captured–released belugas were tested for Brucella exposure in Bristol Bay (2008–2016) and 112 (8 live-captured; 104 subsistence-harvested) whales were tested in the eastern Chukchi Sea (2007–2017). In total, 73% percent of Bristol Bay live captures, 50% of Chukchi Sea live captures, and 66% of Chukchi Sea harvested belugas were positive on serology. Only 10 of 69 seropositive belugas were rtPCR positive in at least one tissue. Only one seropositive animal was PCR positive in both the spleen and ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Thompson, Laura A. Goertz, Caroline E. C. Quakenbush, Lori T. Burek Huntington, Kathy Suydam, Robert S. Stimmelmayr, Raphaela Romano, Tracy A. |
author_facet |
Thompson, Laura A. Goertz, Caroline E. C. Quakenbush, Lori T. Burek Huntington, Kathy Suydam, Robert S. Stimmelmayr, Raphaela Romano, Tracy A. |
author_sort |
Thompson, Laura A. |
title |
Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks |
title_short |
Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks |
title_full |
Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks |
title_fullStr |
Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Serological Detection of Marine Origin Brucella Exposure in Two Alaska Beluga Stocks |
title_sort |
serological detection of marine origin brucella exposure in two alaska beluga stocks |
publisher |
MDPI |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9367357/ https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151932 |
geographic |
Arctic Chukchi Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Chukchi Sea |
genre |
Arctic Beluga Beluga* Chukchi Chukchi Sea Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Beluga Beluga* Chukchi Chukchi Sea Alaska |
op_source |
Animals (Basel) |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9367357/ http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12151932 |
op_rights |
© 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151932 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
1932 |
_version_ |
1766346582216671232 |