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Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 44(2), 2008, pp. 480-485
© Wildlife Disease Association  2008
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SHORT COMMUNICATION

Evidence of Exposure to Brucella sp. in Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the Bay of Fundy, Canada

 A. S. Neimanis1,2,5, H. N. Koopman1,3, A. J. Westgate1,3, K. Nielsen4 and F. A. Leighton2

1 Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station, #24 Route 776, Grand Manan, New Brunswick E5G 1A1, Canada
2 Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre, Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, 52 Campus Dr., University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4, Canada
3 Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 601 S. College Rd, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28403, USA
4 Ottawa Laboratory (Fallowfield), Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 3851 Fallowfield Rd, PO Box 11300, Ottawa, Ontario K2H 8P9, Canada
5 Corresponding author (email: aleksija.neimanis{at}usask.ca)

ABSTRACT:   Novel strains of Brucella recently have been discovered in marine mammals. To investigate Brucella exposure and infection in a general population of cetaceans, blood and tissue samples were collected and analyzed from wild harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) incidentally caught in fishing gear in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Two of 170 (1.2%) animals had detectable antibodies against Brucella, but no organisms were isolated from genital swabs or tissues from 22 and 8 porpoises, respectively. Genetic analysis of inflamed testes from 20 animals yielded no amplification of Brucella DNA. This is the first evidence of exposure to Brucella in porpoises from the western North Atlantic, and the prevalence is much lower than documented for conspecifics from the eastern North Atlantic.
  Key words:  Atlantic, Brucella, brucellosis, Canada, harbor porpoise, marine, Phocoena phocoena, serology.






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