Dear Collegues
I'm glad to announce a new article on a forensic techniques
which could be useful in by-catch diagnosis. This article is a
preliminary evaluation of the presence of diatoms in bones of
stranded marine vertebrates including cetaceans. Diatoms
researches are used in forensic human medicine in order to
support drowning evidences. Further studies could enforce the
use of this technique in bycatch postmortem diagnosis along with
other findings. Details could be found in the following
maniscript
The diatoms test in veterinary medicine: a pilot study on
cetaceans and sea turtles.
Fishing activities are considered one of the most relevant threats
for cetaceans and sea turtles con- servation since these animals
are sometimes found dead entangled in fishing gears. Currently,
postmortem diagnosis is based mainly on the presence of nets and
lines on the body and the related marks and injuries evident at
gross examination. A more detailed and objective evidence is
needed to clarify doubts cases and the diatoms technique, used in
forensic human medicine, could support drowning diagnosis also in
this field. Diatoms’ investigation was implemented to be applied
in ma- rine vertebrate on 8 striped (Stenella coeruleoalba) and 1
bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) dolphins and 5 sea turtles
(Caretta caretta) stranded along the Italian coastlines with a
likely cause of death hypothized on necropsies carried out by
veterinary pathologists. Diatoms were microscopically searched in
the bone marrow collected from long bones implementing protocols
used in human medicine and their presence was observed in 4
cetaceans and 2 sea turtles. Despite a clear relation between
diatoms’ presence and amount and the likely cause of death was not
proved due to the poor number of samples, the higher burden of
diatoms was found in 3 animals deemed to be death for the
interaction with human activity. Despite more studied are
necessary to identify the possible relation between the cause of
death and diatoms’ findings, the present study implemented this
technique to be adapted to marine animals, confirming its possible
application also in veterinary forensic medicine.
CITATION: Rubini S, Frisoni P, Russotto C, Pedriali N, Mignone W,
Grattarola C, Giorda F, Pautasso A, Barbieri S, Cozzi B, Mazzariol
S, Gaudio RM. The diatoms test in veterinary medicine: A pilot
study on cetaceans and sea turtles. Forensic Sci Int. 2018 Jul 5.
pii: S0379-0738(18)30358-X
Full text could be downloaded at the following address
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037907381830358X?via%3Dihub
All the best
Sandro Mazzariol
--
Dr. Sandro Mazzariol, DVM, PhD
Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione (BCA)
Università degli Studi di Padova
Cetaceans strandings Emergency Response Team (CERT)
AGRIPOLIS - Ed. Museo
Viale dell'Università 16
35020 - Legnaro (PD)
tel.: +39 049 827 2963
fax: +39 049 827 2973
skype: smazzariol