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Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

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DAO 117:237-243 (2016)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02948

Fluorescent microbead-based immunoassay for anti-Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae antibody detection in cetaceans

Mar Melero1,*, Luis G. Giménez-Lirola2, Consuelo Rubio-Guerri1, José Luis Crespo-Picazo3, Eva Sierra4, Daniel García-Párraga3, Francisco Javier García-Peña5, Manuel Arbelo4, Teresa Álvaro3, Mónica Valls3, José Manuel Sánchez-Vizcaíno1

1VISAVET Center and Animal Health Department, Veterinary School, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
2Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50010, USA
3Veterinary Services, Oceanografic, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, 46013 Valencia, Spain
4Division of Histology and Animal Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary School, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35416 Canary Islands, Spain
5Bacteriology Department 2, Laboratorio Central de Veterinaria de Algete (MAGRAMA), 28110 Algete, Madrid, Spain
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: A fluorescent microbead-based immunoassay (FMIA) for detection of anti-Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae antibodies in pigs was adapted for use in cetaceans. The FMIA was validated and adjusted using serum samples from 10 vaccinated captive bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus collected between 1 and 13 mo after immunization. The technique was then used to analyze specimens from 15 free-ranging cetaceans stranded alive on the Valencian Mediterranean coast between 2006 and 2014: 11 striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba, 3 Risso’s dolphins Grampus griseus and 1 bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus. One of these wild animals was confirmed to have died from E. rhusiopathiae septicemia, but no anti-E. rhusiopathiae antibodies were detected in its serum, pericardial fluid or milk samples. Another free-ranging individual, which lacked any signs or lesions that might be indicative of E. rhusiopathiae infection, showed high fluorescence intensity similar to that measured in captive dolphins at 6-13 mo after vaccination. These results suggest that this animal underwent an E. rhusiopathiae infection several months before stranding. The findings in the present study suggest that FMIA can be useful for detecting anti-E. rhusiopathiae antibodies in cetaceans, and its application to free-ranging animals is particularly interesting because of the great value of these specimens. Furthermore, the FMIA can be multiplexed to allow the determination of up to 100 analytes per sample in a single well, thereby reducing the cost, time and sample volume needed.


KEY WORDS: Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae · Erysipelas · Antibodies · Fluorescent microbead-based immunoassay · Cetaceans


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Cite this article as: Melero M, Giménez-Lirola LG, Rubio-Guerri C, Crespo-Picazo JL and others (2016) Fluorescent microbead-based immunoassay for anti-Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae antibody detection in cetaceans. Dis Aquat Org 117:237-243. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02948

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