First case of H5N1 in a white-sided dolphin
The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative blog reports a case of fatal infection with the highly pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus in a white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus). This juvenile male dolphin was found dead stranded on September 5 on a beach near Rimouski (Quebec). The carcass was submitted by the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (RQUMM) to the CWHC – Quebec regional center for analysis. The animal was in good body condition, which is suggestive of death from an acute event. Histopathological examination of the tissues revealed the presence of inflammatory and necrotic lesions in the liver, lymph nodes, and spleen. Acute inflammatory lesions were also present in the lungs (pneumonia) and brain (very mild encephalitis). Molecular analyses carried out by the laboratory of the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec have revealed the presence of an AIV H5N1) in the brain. This result was confirmed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency laboratory. The results of these examinations indicate that this dolphin died following acute infection with an AIV H5N1 virus. only two cases of AIV H5N1 infection have been reported in cetaceans so far, one case in a bottlenose dolphin in Florida and one case in a harbor porpoise in Sweden. The case presented here would therefore be the first case of infection by this virus in a white-sided dolphin.
