Prevalence of a host-adapted group B Salmonella enterica in harbour porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena ) from the south-west coast of England

A monophasic group B Salmonella enterica 4,12:a:- was first isolated in harbour porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena ) in Scotland in 1991. This paper reports the isolation of the same group B S enterica from harbour porpoise carcases found stranded along the Cornwall and Devon coastlines. Between 1991 and 2002, 80 harbour porpoises were submitted for postmortem examination and subjected to bacteriological examination under the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme. A total of 28 Salmonella isolates were recovered and subjected to several tests, including biochemical, molecular and serological analysis.