Abstract
The relatively high frequency of marine mammal stranding events in the Philippines provide many research opportunities. A select set of stranders (n = 21) from 2017 to 2018 were sampled for bacteriology and histopathology. Pertinent tissues and bacteria were collected from individuals representing eight cetacean species (i.e. Feresa attenuata, Kogia breviceps, Globicephala macrorhynchus, Grampus griseus, Lagenodelphis hosei, Peponocephala electra, Stenella attenuata and Stenella longirostris) and were subjected to histopathological examination and antibiotic resistance screening, respectively. The antibiotic resistance profiles of 24 bacteria (belonging to genera Escherichia, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus, and Shigella) that were isolated from four cetaceans were determined using 18 antibiotics. All 24 isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic class, and 79.17% were classified as multiple antibiotic resistant (MAR). The MAR index values of isolates ranged from 0.06 to 0.39 with all the isolates resistant to erythromycin (100%; n = 24) and susceptible to imipenem, doripenem, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, and gentamicin (100%; n = 24). The resistance profiles of these bacteria show the extent of antimicrobial resistance in the marine environment, and may inform medical management decisions during rehabilitation of stranded cetaceans. Due to inadequate gross descriptions and limited data gathered by the responders during the stranding events, the significance of histopathological lesions in association with disease diagnosis in each cetacean stranding or mortality remained inconclusive; however, these histopathological findings may be indicative or contributory to the resulting debility and stress during their strandings. The findings of the study demonstrate the challenges faced by cetacean species in the wild, such as but not limited to, biological pollution through land-sea movement of effluents, fisheries interactions, and anthropogenic activities.
Highlights
The surveillance of wildlife health is part of an early warning system for detecting the emergence or resurgence of disease threats
Tissue samples and bacterial isolates were obtained from 21 stranded cetaceans representing eight species (Feresa attenuata, Kogia breviceps, Globicephala macrorhynchus, Grampus griseus, Lagenodelphis hosei, Peponocephala electra, Stenella attenuata, and Stenella longirostris) (Fig 1)
Twenty-one cetaceans that stranded in different parts of the Philippines were sampled for bacterial isolation and antibiotic resistance screening as well as histopathological assessment of available tissues
Summary
The surveillance of wildlife health is part of an early warning system for detecting the emergence or resurgence of disease threats. While the event itself deserves attention, as it is not normal for any marine mammal to strand for no apparent reason, each stranded individual can give information on the abundance, distribution, health, and other ecological characteristics of its free-living counterparts [2], as well as threats faced by its population [3]. Biases exist in investigating the factors involved in cetacean strandings; easy-to-detect circumstances such as obvious injuries (especially those intentionally inflicted by humans) are likely to be more reported, whereas the role of diseases or parasites may be underestimated. The capacity to detect the presence of pathogens or parasites of stranded cetaceans depends on resources, such as the presence of a stranding network with the capability to respond to stranding events as well as availability of expertise for conducting necropsy and other protocols for case investigation. While live strandings provide good biological samples for laboratory analyses, a dead or decomposing carcass on the beach is just as useful in providing specimens and other information as demonstrated in previous studies
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