A fatal case of salmonellosis in a dugong

Abstract

Salmonella lohbruegge was isolated from the kidney and the liver of a captive dugong calf (Dugong dugon) which died after an illness of at least several weeks. Clinical signs included diarrhoea and anorexia and were apparent for a week before death. Necropsy and histopathologic examination revealed thickening of the intestinal mucosa, epithelial degeneration, and epithelioid cell infiltration of mucosa, submucosa and contiguous smooth muscle. Enlargement of intestinal lymphoid tissue was apparent, and occasional focal granulomas were found in the liver. The source of the Salmonella infection was not ascertained.