Poster

Over a two year period (1994-95), a total of 129 bacterial isolates were recovered from three species of stranded pinnipeds (Zalophus californianus, Mirounga angustirostris, Phoca vitulina) during rehabilitation at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA. Nineteen different genera of bacteria were isolated from various sites of inflammation, with abscesses and umbilici being the most common sites. Enterobacteriaceae (E. coli, Proteus spp., Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp.) accounted for 75% of the gram-negative isolates. Among the gram-positive bacteria, Enterococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus accounted for 100% of the isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed multiple drug resistance in all but one of the bacterial isolates. The gram-positive bacteria were most susceptible to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (82% of 36 isolates) and least susceptible to chloramphenicol (20% of 20 isolates). The gram-negative bacteria were most susceptible to amikacin (91% of 91 isolates) and least susceptible to clindamycin (3% of 109 isolates).

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