Novel Bartonella infection in northern and southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni and Enhydra lutris nereis)

Since 2002, vegetative valvular endocarditis (VVE), septicemia and meningoencephalitis have contributed to an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) of northern sea otters in southcentral Alaska. Streptococcal organisms were commonly isolated from vegetative lesions and organs from these sea otters. Bartonel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Veterinary microbiology 2014-06, Vol.170 (3-4), p.325-334
Main Authors: Carrasco, Sebastian E., Chomel, Bruno B., Gill, Verena A., Kasten, Rickie W., Maggi, Ricardo G., Breitschwerdt, Edward B., Byrne, Barbara A., Burek-Huntington, Kathleen A., Miller, Melissa A., Goldstein, Tracey, Mazet, Jonna A.K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alaska
Animals
Bartonella
Bartonella - classification
Bartonella - genetics
Bartonella Infections - complications
Bartonella Infections - microbiology
California
DNA, Bacterial - analysis
DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - genetics
Endocarditis - microbiology
Enhydra lutris
Enhydra lutris kenyoni
Enhydra lutris nereis
Female
Genes, Bacterial - genetics
Heart Valves - microbiology
Hematologic Tests
Male
Marine
Molecular Sequence Data
Northern sea otter
Otters
Phylogeny
Risk Factors
Southern sea otter
Streptococcal Infections - complications
Streptococcus
Streptococcus bovis
Streptococcus bovis/equinus
Vegetative valvular endocarditis
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Summary:Since 2002, vegetative valvular endocarditis (VVE), septicemia and meningoencephalitis have contributed to an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) of northern sea otters in southcentral Alaska. Streptococcal organisms were commonly isolated from vegetative lesions and organs from these sea otters. Bartonella infection has also been associated with bacteremia and VVE in terrestrial mammals, but little is known regarding its pathogenic significance in marine mammals. Our study evaluated whether Streptococcus bovis/equinus (SB/E) and Bartonella infections were associated with UME-related disease characterized by VVE and septicemia in Alaskan sea otter carcasses recovered 2004–2008. These bacteria were also evaluated in southern sea otters in California. Streptococcus bovis/equinus were cultured from 45% (23/51) of northern sea otter heart valves, and biochemical testing and sequencing identified these isolates as Streptococcus infantarius subsp. coli. One-third of sea otter hearts were co-infected with Bartonella spp. Our analysis demonstrated that SB/E was strongly associated with UME-related disease in northern sea otters (P
ISSN:0378-1135
1873-2542
DOI:10.1016/j.vetmic.2014.02.021