Marine mammals immunotoxicology

Advances in Marine Mammal Immunology and Immunotoxicology Tools.407... 

Interest in the area of marine mammal immunotoxicology is not incidental. Their charismatic nature, prominence in public zoos and aquaria, exposure to often very high contaminant levels, and a series of mass standings, have all contributed to high public and scientific interest in marine mammals. This has driven the need for improved husbandry practices and veterinary diagnostic tools for captive individuals, and calls for explanations of strandings, disease outbreaks, and mass mortalities in wild populations. 

The vulnerability of marine mammals to environmental pollution provides an ecologically-relevant context for marine mammal immunotoxicology. Often situated at the top of aquatic food chains, marine mammals are exposed to high concentrations of a complex mixture of persistent contaminants, many of which are known to be immu-notoxic in laboratory animals. Marine mammal immunotoxicology came into its own in... 

Additional information is available to the reader in the way of reviews on disease outbreaks in marine mammals, the anthropogenic factors affecting disease outbreaks in marine mammals, and considerations for study design in marine mammal immunotoxicology [3-5],... 

ADVANCES IN MARINE MAMMAL IMMUNOLOGY AND IMMUNOTOXICOLOGY TOOLS... 

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