Abstract
Rhodococcus equi is a terrestrial bacterium and a common pathogen in foals (Equus caballus), in which causes pneumonia. This report describes for the first time the infection caused by R. equi in a common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stranded in the Calabrian coast, Italy. The post mortem examination of the animal revealed lesions in lung and colon. The animal was also positive to dolphin morbillivirus. The histological study showed lesions attributable to R. equi infection, such as pyogranulomatous bacterial pneumonia and chronic granulomatous colitis. Whole genome sequencing of the isolated strain confirmed its identification as R. equi.
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Maria Oliviero wrote the main manuscript text; Doriana Iaccarino, Emanuele Esposito, Gianluigi Paduano, Giuseppe Lucifora, Giorgia Borriello, Rubina Paradiso, Barbara degli Uberti, Maria Dimatteo and Maria Grazia Amoroso provided for the production and analysis of the data; Fabio Di Nocera, Giovanna Fusco and Esterina De Carlo revised the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Oliviero, M., Iaccarino, D., Esposito, E. et al. First description of Rhodococcus equi infection in common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Vet Res Commun (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-024-10352-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-024-10352-w