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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2002, p. 721-724, Vol. 40, No. 2
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.2.721-724.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cryptococcosis in a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Caused by Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii

W. George Miller,1 Arvind A. Padhye,2* William van Bonn,1 Eric Jensen,1 Mary E. Brandt,2 and Sam H. Ridgway1

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, California 92152,1 Mycotic Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 303332

Received 3 August 2001/ Accepted 11 October 2001

We describe the first case of cryptococcosis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii in a male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The dolphin showed clinical signs of tachypnea, transient dyspnea, and mild tachycardia and developed multiple hyperechoic nodules, parenchymal consolidation, and thickening of pleura. A diagnosis of bronchopneumonia with pleuritis was made. Itraconazole therapy was implemented for 120 days, and trough levels in serum were within or above the suggested therapeutic range. Titers of cryptococcal antigen in serum increased eightfold during therapy, and the case had a fatal outcome. Necropsy examination findings included enlarged pulmonary lymph nodes and extensive coalescing granulomatous lesions throughout both lungs. Histologic examination revealed numerous, spherical to ellipsoidal, mucicarmine-positive, 3- to 14-µm, encapsulated, budding cells consistent with C. neoformans. Culture of the lung tissue yielded colonies of C. neoformans. The isolate was urease positive and nitrate negative and exhibited phenoloxidase activity. It was positive on canavanine-glycine-bromothymol blue agar. When tested by the Iatron serodiagnostic reagent kit (Iatron Laboratories, Inc.), it was shown to belong to serotype B.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Mycotic Diseases Branch, Mail Stop G-11, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-3749. Fax: (404) 639-3546. E-mail: aap1{at}cdc.gov.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2002, p. 721-724, Vol. 40, No. 2
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.2.721-724.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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