RT Journal Article
T1 Towards Integrated Surveillance of Marine Brucellosis: Diagnostic and Phylogenetic Assessment of Brucella ceti in Stranded Dolphins of the Western Mediterranean Sea
A1 Vargas Castro, Ignacio
A1 Andrés-Barranco, Sara
A1 Crespo-Picazo, José Luis
A1 Torre Fuentes, Laura
A1 Jiménez Martínez, María de los Ángeles
A1 Hernández, Marta
A1 Arbelo, Manuel
A1 Álvarez Sánchez, Julio
A1 Muñoz, Pilar María
A1 Marco-Cabedo, Vicente
A1 de Miguel, María Jesús
A1 López, Débora
A1 Muñoz-Baquero, Marta
A1 García-Párraga, Daniel
A1 Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel
AB 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 (bELISA) and/or the Rose Bengal agglutination test (RBT). In the 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 (WGS) enabled the identification of two sequence types (STs), 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.
PB Wiley
SN 1865-1674
YR 2026
FD 2026
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131844
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131844
LA eng
NO Vargas-Castro, Ignacio, Andrés-Barranco, Sara, Crespo-Picazo, José Luis, Torre-Fuentes, Laura, Jiménez-Martínez, Mª Ángeles, Hernández, Marta, Arbelo, Manuel, Álvarez, Julio, Muñoz, Pilar María, Marco-Cabedo, Vicente, de Miguel, María Jesús, López, Débora, Muñoz-Baquero, Marta, García-Párraga, Daniel, Barasona, José Ángel, Towards Integrated Surveillance of Marine Brucellosis: Diagnostic and Phylogenetic Assessment of Brucella ceti in Stranded Dolphins of the Western Mediterranean Sea, Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 2026, 2075116, 15 pages, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1155/tbed/2075116
NO Contribución de autores:Conceptualization: Ignacio Vargas-Castro, Sara Andrés-Barranco, José Luis Crespo-Picazo, Mª Ángeles Jiménez-Martínez, Pilar María Muñoz, María Jesús de Miguel, and Daniel García-Párraga. Methodology: Ignacio Vargas-Castro, Sara Andrés-Barranco, José Luis Crespo-Picazo, Laura Torre-Fuentes, Mª Ángeles Jiménez-Martínez, Marta Hernández, Manuel Arbelo, Julio Álvarez, Pilar María Muñoz, Vicente Marco-Cabedo, María Jesús de Miguel, Débora López, and Marta Muñoz-Baquero. Formal analysis: Laura Torre-Fuentes, Marta Hernández, and Julio Álvarez. Investigation: Ignacio Vargas-Castro, Sara Andrés-Barranco, José Luis Crespo-Picazo, Mª Ángeles Jiménez-Martínez, Pilar María Muñoz, and María Jesús de Miguel. Writing – original draft preparation: Ignacio Vargas-Castro, José Luis Crespo-Picazo, and Mª Ángeles Jiménez-Martínez. Writing – review and editing: Ignacio Vargas-Castro, Sara Andrés-Barranco, José Luis Crespo-Picazo, Laura Torre-Fuentes, Mª Ángeles Jiménez-Martínez, Marta Hernández, Manuel Arbelo, Julio Álvarez, Pilar María Muñoz, Vicente Marco-Cabedo, María Jesús de Miguel, Débora López, Marta Muñoz-Baquero, Daniel García-Párraga, and José Ángel Barasona. Supervision: Mª Ángeles Jiménez-Martínez, Pilar María Muñoz, Daniel García-Párraga, and José Ángel Barasona. Funding acquisition: Pilar María Muñoz, Daniel García-Párraga, and José Ángel Barasona.
NO Fundación Oceanogràfic (España)
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Gobierno de Aragón
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO European Commission
DS Docta Complutense
RD 22 abr 2026