Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to share our recent publication in Veterinary Parasitology:
Detection of *Toxoplasma* *gondii* in three common bottlenose dolphins ( *Tursiops* *truncatus*); A first description from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Eyal Bigal, Danny Morick, Aviad P.Scheinin, , Harold Salant, Asaf Berkowitz, Roni King, Yaniv Levy, Mar Melero, José Manuel Sánchez-Vizcaíno, Oz Goffman, Nir Hadar, Mia Roditi-Elasar and Dan Tchernov Abstract *Toxoplasma gondii* has been described in several marine mammals around the world including numerous species of cetaceans, yet infection and transmission mechanisms in the marine environment are not clearly defined. The Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center has been collating a database of all marine mammal stranding events along the country’s national coastlines since 1993. In this study, we describe the molecular detection and characterisation of *T*. *gondii* in three common bottlenose dolphins (*Tursiops* *truncatus*) including one case of coinfection with herpesvirus. The animals were found stranded on the Mediterranean coast of Israel in May and November 2013. In one of the three cases, the dolphin was found alive and admitted to intensive care. To our knowledge, this is the first report of *T*. *gondii* infection of marine mammals in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. As this parasite acts as an indicator for marine pollution and marine mammal health, we believe these findings add important information regarding the state of the environment in this region. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304401718302279 Best wishes, Danny Morick
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