The skin disease paracoccidioidomycosis ceti occurs in several dolphin species globally. Infection by the unculturable fungi Paracoccidioides brasilensis or other Paracoccidioides spp. results in chronic cutaneous and granulomatous lesions. In this study we used immunohistochemistry to investigate the seroprevalence of antibodies to Paracoccidioides spp. in captive dolphins from three aquaria in Japan. We had previously reported that there were serological cross-reactions for Paracoccidioides spp. with related species in the order Onygenales. We hypothesized that the degree of serological cross-reactions for Paracoccidioides spp. might be lower in areas, such as Japan, where the fungal diseases coccidiodomycosis and paracoccidiodomycosis are not endemic. Sera from 41 apparently healthy dolphins, including 20 Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (BD: Tursiops truncatus), 6 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (IPBD: Tursiops aduncus), 2 F1 generation of a cross between BD and IPBD (F1), 3 Pacific white-sided dolphins (PWD: Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), 2 pantropical spotted dolphins (PSD: Stenella attenuata), 6 false killer whales (FKW: Pseudorca crassidens), and 2 rough-toothed dolphins (RTD: Steno bredanensis) were investigated. Sera from three dolphins with paracoccidioidomycosis ceti were used as a positive control. The yeast-form cells of Paracoccidioides spp. in the cutaneous tissue sample derived from the first Japanese paracoccidioidomycosis ceti case were used as the antigen for the immunohistochemistry. Of the 41 dolphins tested, 61.0% had antibodies against Paracoccidioides spp. This indicates that dolphins of several species in Japanese aquaria have likely been exposed to the pathogen Paracoccidioides spp.

鲸鱼副球孢子菌病皮肤病发生在全球的几种海豚中。由不可培养的真菌Paracoccidioides brasilensis或其他Paracoccidioides spp感染。导致慢性皮肤和肉芽肿病变。在这项研究中，我们使用免疫组织化学来研究副球孢子菌抗体的血清阳性率。来自日本三个水族馆的圈养海豚。我们此前曾报道有血清学交叉反应副球孢子菌。与 Onygenales 目中的相关物种。我们假设Paracoccidioides spp的血清学交叉反应的程度。在真菌病球孢子菌病和副球孢子菌病不流行的地区，例如日本，可能会更低。来自 41 只明显健康的海豚的血清，包括 20 只大西洋宽吻海豚（BD：Tursiops truncatus）、6 只印度太平洋宽吻海豚（IPBD：Tursiops aduncus）、2 F1 代 BD 和 IPBD 之间的杂交（F1）、3 只太平洋白-双面海豚（PWD：Lagenorhynchus obliquidens）、2 只泛热带斑点海豚（PSD：Stenella attenuata）、6 只假虎鲸（FKW：Pseudorca crassidens）和 2 只粗齿海豚（RTD：Steno bredanensis）) 进行了调查。来自三头鲸类副球孢子菌病的海豚的血清用作阳性对照。Paracoccidioides spp的酵母形式细胞。取自第一个日本鲸类副球孢子菌病病例的皮肤组织样本作为免疫组织化学的抗原。在测试的 41 只海豚中，61.0% 具有针对副球孢子菌属的抗体。这表明日本水族馆中的几种海豚很可能接触过病原体Paracoccidioides spp。