Abstract

A free-ranging adult (total length = 235 cm, weight = 114 kg) female Fraser's Dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) stranded in San Narciso, Zambales province, Philippines in 2005. A total of three hematology and serum chemistry evaluations (every other day during four days of critical care) revealed decreasing total WBC count with apparently normal differential count; and significantly elevated LDH, AST, and ALT levels based on values established for the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Sodium and chloride values were also elevated just prior to death. Gross examination performed 3.5 hours post-mortem revealed emphysema, slight whitish reticulation on the pleural surfaces, and dark red and bloody cut surfaces of both lungs. Prominent blood vessels were observed especially as the parenchyma thinned at the anterolateral portions of both lungs. Necropsy also revealed the presence of a 25-cm male fetus in the right uterine horn. Histopathologic examination of randomly collected lung tissue revealed some of the hallmark features of angiomatosis: presence of diffuse, micronodular proliferation of blood vessels with thickened walls without hemorrhage, inflammation, or exudation. No other coincidental lesions were observed. Angiomatosis, a disease apparently unique to the dolphin, was first described by Turnbull and Cowan in 1999 based on necropsy of 25 positive cases of T. truncatus from the Gulf of Mexico. This paper reports dolphin angiomatosis in a Fraser's Dolphin from the South China Sea for the first time.

Acknowledgement

Dr. Judy St. Leger of SeaWorld first introduced Dolphin Angiomatosis to CST in 2006. Dr. Daniel Cowan of the TMMSN provided information and expert opinion on the disease.