Abstract
Hypersensitivity to Candida albicans was diagnosed in a juvenile female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin based on the presence of
an oral and peri-blowhole exfoliative dermatopathy, behaviors suggesting nasal pruritus, a positive basophil degranulation assay, and response to oral
hyposensitization with C. albicans extract. A human modified RAST IgE assay was negative. Behaviors suggesting pruritus were scored three times
weekly and tracked over time. The frequency of these behaviors was inversely related to oral extract dose and was reduced to zero when maintenance extract
dose was achieved. The observed dermatopathy also resolved during the hyposensitization protocol. Extract for hyposensitization was administered by
injecting into fish fed rather than sublingually.
This case and the previously reported case from Belgium1,2 raise interesting questions regarding the incidence of
hypersensitivity in marine mammals and suggest the presence of IgE immunoglobulins in Tursiops.
References
1. Lacave G, C Prost. 1995. Candida desensitization attempt in a Tursiops truncatus. IAAAM Proceedings, P. 94.
2. Lacave G, C Prost. 1996. Results of a one year Candida desensitization treatment in a Tursiops truncatus. IAAAM
Proceedings, P. 44.