[A microbiological examination of the skin and vaginal mucus of Amazon River freshwater dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) in relation to an assessment of the physiological state of the animals].

Abstract

There is a definite relation between the state of dolphin's health and the abundance of bacterial associations developing on the skin surface around the dorsal fin. The disease was accompanied by an increase in bacterium amount more than fourfold due to the enhancement of staphylococcus and pseudomonad number. The development of dystrophy in the animal resulted in a threefold decrease in bacterium number. Pseudomonas aeruginosa dominated in this case. In the vaginal mucose of female, the development of bacteria had an oscillatory character and was correlated with the dynamics of leukocyte number against the background of morphologically diverse epithelial cells discharged in different periods of observation. Periods of the abundant bacterium development were connected with the cyclic recurrence of sexual (estrous) processes in the female organism.