Dear MARMAM community, My co-authors and I are pleased to share our most recent publication. *Vargas-Castro I*, Andrés-Barranco S, Crespo-Picazo JL, Torre-Fuentes L, Jiménez-Martínez MA, Hernández M, Arbelo M, Álvarez J, Muñoz PM, Marco-Cabedo V, de Miguel MJ, López D, Muñoz-Baquero M, García-Párraga D, Barasona JA. *Towards integrated surveillance of marine brucellosis: diagnostic and phylogenetic assessment of Brucella ceti in stranded dolphins of the Western Mediterranean Sea*. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2026. You will find the open access publication at the link: https://doi.org/10.1155/tbed/2075116 *Abstract*: Reports of brucellosis in free-ranging cetaceans are increasing worldwide, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. To enhance diagnostic accuracy and epidemiological understanding of cetacean brucellosis in the Western Mediterranean Sea, we analyzed bacteriological, serological and molecular data from 30 cetaceans belonging to three different species stranded along the coast of the Valencian Community (Spain) between 2011 and 2021. *Brucella ceti *infection was confirmed by bacteriological isolation in 14 animals (46,7%) and by genus-specific qPCR in 15 cases (50%), with some discrepancies between methods. When feasible, serological analyses were performed using a commercial blocking ELISA and/or the Rose Bengal agglutination test (RBT). In absence of ELISA tests properly validated for its use in marine mammals, we assessed the optimum dilution and cut-off of this ELISA kit using panels of gold-standard sera from culture-positive and brucellosis-free dolphins. From a pathological perspective, 12 infected animals showed moderate to severe meningoencephalitis, or meningoencephalomyelitis with lymphoplasmacytic infiltration. Additionally whole-genome sequencing enabled the identification of two sequence types, ST26 and ST49, indicating phylogenetic divergence. Our findings provide new insights into the phylogenetics of *B. ceti* and highlight the particular susceptibility of striped dolphins to this bacterium. The study also evidences the need for proper validation of the indirect diagnostic methods used for surveillance and seroepidemiological studies of brucellosis in marine mammals. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions you may have. Kind regards, Ignacio Vargas-Castro *Ignacio Vargas Castro *[image: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8721-3150] <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8721-3150> DVM, PhD Viral Immunology and Preventive Medicine Unit (SUAT) VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre & Animal Health Department Universidad Complutense Madrid Av. Puerta de Hierro, s/n. 28040 Madrid. Spainignavarg@ucm.eswww.sanidadanimal.info <https://www.sanidadanimal.info/en/> This message is private and confidential and it is intended exclusively for the addressee. If you receive this message by mistake, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please inform the sender and delete the message and attachments from your system, as it is completely forbidden for you to use this information, according to the current legislation. No confidentiality nor any privilege regarding the information is waived or lost by any mistransmission or malfunction. The personal data herein will be collected in the file "Correoweb", under the ownership of the Vice-Rectorate for Information Technologies, in which those interested may exercise their right to access, rectify, erasure or right to object the contents (article 15-21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, General Data Protection Regulation). Before printing this mail please consider whether it is really necessary: the environment is a concern for us all.