Pulmonary pathology of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded in England and Wales between 1990 and 1996

The pathological changes observed in the lungs of 197 freshly dead to moder ately decomposed harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded in England and Wales between October 1990 and December 1996 were reviewed. In 135 (69 per cent of the cases) macroscopic nematode infections of the bronchial tra ct with Pseudalius inflexus and Torynurus convolutus, either singly or in c ombination, were recorded, and 106 (54 per cent) also had P inflexus within the pulmonary blood vessels. All the macroscopically parasitised porpoises were adults or juveniles although two neonates had histological evidence o f nematode infection. There were 62 cases of mild to severe, subacute to ch ronic bronchitis and bronchiolitis, 113 cases of mild to severe chronic gra nulomatous interstitial pneumonia, and 34 cases of mild to severe vasculiti s or thrombovasculitis of pulmonary blood vessels attributable to these nem atode infections. In 35 cases necropurulent or purulent (broncho)pneumonias were attributed either to secondary bacterial infections of the lungs or t o septicaemias associated in seven cases with Streptococcus canis, in two c ases with group B Salmonella species, in one case with Escherichia coli and in one case with Streptococcus lactis. The pulmonary lesions in 67 animals known or diagnosed to have been entrapped in fishing gear were non-specifi c and included persistent foam in the airways in 45 cases, diffuse congesti on in 53, oedema in 50, and multifocal intra-alveolar haemorrhage in 33 cas es. Seven cases of acute fibrinous or chronic fibrous pleuritis, seven case s of chronic necropurulent pneumonia associated with mycotic infections, fo ur porpoises with traumatic lesions of the thorax and other parts of the bo dy consistent with fatal attack from bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatu s), and one case of diffuse bronchointerstitial pneumonia associated with g eneralised morbillivirus infection were also recorded.