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Animals
Special Issues
Diseases of Marine Mammals: Prevention, Control and Beyond
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Diseases of Marine Mammals: Prevention, Control and Beyond

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Mammals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2752

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Suzana Tkalcic

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University, Pomona, CA, USA
Interests: One Health; ocean health; marine mammal pathology; veterinary pathology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

One Health is a paradigm in medicine where ocean health is one of the foundational strategies, not only in the conservation efforts of protecting the marine ecosystem, but where marine life takes a role as sentinels for human health. Marine mammals, such as cetaceans, pinnipeds, and sirenians, face a variety of emerging and re-emerging diseases that pose significant threats to their health, survival, and conservation efforts. These diseases, ranging from infectious to environmental pollutants, present widespread ecological and economic impact. Understanding the dynamics of marine mammal health is critical not only for species survival, but also for the preservation of healthy marine ecosystems and consequently aquatic animal and human health. Recent studies have highlighted the impacts of climate change, habitat degradation, and anthropogenic activities, which exacerbate disease susceptibility and hinder effective disease prevention and control strategies. Despite significant progress in understanding the etiology and pathology of marine mammal diseases, progress must still be made in terms of establishing robust diagnostic tools, effective preventive measures, and cross-disciplinary management approaches.

The goal of this Special Issue is to compile recent advances in the study of marine mammal diseases, focusing on prevention, control, and innovative strategies for diagnostics, control and long-term management. Contributions will highlight novel diagnostic methods, therapeutic interventions, and ecological approaches to minimize disease risks. By bridging gaps between veterinary medicine, pathology, marine biology, and environmental science, this Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive resource for researchers, conservationists, and policymakers dedicated to safeguarding ocean health, marine mammal health and biodiversity.

Dr. Suzana Tkalcic
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • marine mammals
  • ocean health
  • climate change
  • anthropogenic impacts
  • conservation
  • disease prevention and control
  • diagnostics
  • health management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1845 KB  
Article
Serum Concentrations of Imidazole Dipeptides and Serum Amyloid A in a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) with Rhabdomyolysis: Potential Biomarkers for Muscular Damage
by Nanami Arakawa, Mika Otsuka, Takahisa Hamano, Momochika Kumagai, Sanae Kato, Takuya Hirai, Akira Yabuki and Osamu Yamato
Animals 2025, 15(13), 1950; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131950 - 2 Jul 2025
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Abstract
Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), including anserine, carnosine, and balenine, are predominantly found in the skeletal muscles of vertebrates. Balenine is the major IDP in cetaceans. Serum amyloid A (SAA) is an acute phase protein released in response to damage or injury in various tissues, [...] Read more.
Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), including anserine, carnosine, and balenine, are predominantly found in the skeletal muscles of vertebrates. Balenine is the major IDP in cetaceans. Serum amyloid A (SAA) is an acute phase protein released in response to damage or injury in various tissues, including skeletal muscles. A captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) died due to rhabdomyolysis and subsequent acute kidney injury that probably originated from accidental muscle trauma. In this study, concentrations of IDPs and SAA were measured using stored serum collected from the affected dolphin with intermittent continuous damage of skeletal muscles to demonstrate the pathological relevance of these parameters and their usefulness as biomarkers for muscle damage in dolphins. The IDP concentration was measured using the high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet method. The SAA concentration was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) specific to dolphin SAA and a latex turbidimetric immunoassay (LTI) specific to human SAA. Herein, the IDP concentration was altered similarly to serum muscular enzymes, including creatinine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). However, IDP concentrations were elevated one day earlier than CK and AST levels at disease onset. Furthermore, IDP concentrations were similarly altered when assessed using both ELISA- and LTI-SAAs, and the change in IDP concentration coincided with that in LTI-SAA based on the statistical analysis. These data suggest that IDP concentration could detect muscle damage and injury, including necrosis and inflammation, in dolphins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases of Marine Mammals: Prevention, Control and Beyond)
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Review

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37 pages, 1769 KB  
Review
Candida Infections in Marine Mammals: Epidemiology, Antifungal Resistance, and One Health Implications
by Michelyne Haroun, Christophe Tratrat, Muhammad Munir, Ouda Nasser Aldakhilallah, Sahar Mohamed Ibrahim and Athina Geronikaki
Animals 2026, 16(7), 1060; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16071060 - 31 Mar 2026
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Abstract
Candida albicans is currently considered one of the most significant fungal pathogens in cetaceans and pinnipeds and the spread of antifungal-resistant strains pose significant threats to animal health and One Health concerns. Although C. albicans is the most commonly detected species, non-albicans [...] Read more.
Candida albicans is currently considered one of the most significant fungal pathogens in cetaceans and pinnipeds and the spread of antifungal-resistant strains pose significant threats to animal health and One Health concerns. Although C. albicans is the most commonly detected species, non-albicans Candida (NAC) species, including C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis and Nakaseomyces glabratus and the multidrug-resistant C. auris, have been recognized in captive dolphins. This review examines the clinical patterns observed in marine mammal taxa: cetaceans are most commonly vulnerable to respiratory and disseminated mycoses owing to their distinct anatomical characteristics, whereas mucocutaneous infections are the common manifestation in pinnipeds. Localized mucocutaneous infections may progress to fatal systemic disease, with mortality rates approaching 100% in severe cases, despite therapeutic treatment. The most important predisposing factors are immunosuppression, long-term antibiotic treatment, environmental stress factors, and the deterioration of water quality. Diagnostic methods are based on cytology, histopathology, culture, and molecular methods, and treatment is mostly composed of systemic azole antifungals although with high levels of therapeutic failure. Recent results showed that there are high levels of azole resistance in the isolates of marine mammals that had no history of exposure to antifungal agents, which points to the role of aquatic environments as sources of resistance genes. The lack of knowledge remains particularly evident in species-specific pharmacokinetics and the development of evidence-based treatment guidelines. These infections also have broader implications for ecosystem health surveillance and the protection of endangered marine mammal populations. The current review highlights the One Health approach with marine mammals being at the core of ocean health surveillance and identifies the potential for zoonotic transmission. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases of Marine Mammals: Prevention, Control and Beyond)
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