Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce that the publication
of our article:
Qingzhong
Wu, Jessica Conway, Kristen M. Phillips, Megan Stolen, Wendy N. Durden, Deborah
Fauquier, Wayne E. McFee, and Lori Schwacke. 2016. Detection of Brucella spp. in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) by a Real-Time PCR Using Blowhole Swabs. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 120:241-244.
doi: 10.3354/dao03034
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/dao/v120/n3/p241-244/
Abstract: Blowhole
swabs are a simple and non-invasive method for collecting samples from
cetaceans and can be used for screening large numbers of animals in the
field. This study reports a real-time
PCR assay for the detection of Brucella
spp. using blowhole swab samples from bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus) stranded in the coastal region of Virginia, South
Carolina and Northern Florida, USA between 2013 and 2015. We used real-time PCR results on lung samples
from the same dolphins as the estimation of the relative sensitivity and
specificity of real-time PCR of blowhole swabs.
Brucella
DNA was detected in lung tissue of 22% (18/81) and in blowhole swabs of 21%
(17/81) of the sampled dolphins. The relative sensitivity and
specificity of real-time PCR on blowhole swabs as compared to the real-time PCR
on lung samples was 94% (17/18) and 100% (63/63), respectively. These results
indicate that real-time PCR on blowhole swabs may be used
as a non-invasive test for rapid detection of Brucella spp. in the
respiratory tract of dolphins. To our knowledge, this is the first
report on the use of blowhole swabs for detection of bacterial pathogens by
real-time PCR in bottlenose dolphins.
Best regards,
Qingzhong (David) Wu
Molecular microbiologist
--
Qingzhong (David) Wu, JHT, Inc. - Contractor
Hollings Marine Laboratory
National Ocean Service
331 Ft. Johnson Rd.
Charleston, SC 29412
Office 843-725-4831
david.wu@noaa.gov