Vascular lesions and pneumonia in a pig fetus infected by porcine circovirus type 2

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) associated reproductive disease was diagnosed in a herd containing only gilts. A single case of abortion occurred and no other disorder was evident in the herd. PCV2 antigen and/or DNA were detected in two aborted fetuses. One of the fetuses, revealing both PCV2 DNA and antigen, presented multinucleated giant cells, severe vascular lesions (intramural oedema, fibrinoid necrosis, mild lympho-histiocytic vasculitis, fibrin thrombi) and mild non-suppurative inflammation in the lungs. Other abortifacient infections were not found. This is the only report of PCV2-induced abortion in Hungary since 1999, when PCV2-associated disease was first discovered in the country

Complete Genome Sequence of a Variant Pyrrhula pyrrhula polyomavirus 1 Strain Isolated from White-Headed Munia (Lonchura maja)

A novel variant of finch polyomavirus has been identified and sequenced from a diseased white-headed munia (Lonchura maja)

Egy ritka zoonosis: a Schistosoma turkestanicum vérmétely által okozott cercaria dermatitis Magyarországon | A rare zoonosis in Hungary: cercarial dermatitis caused by Schistosoma turkestanicum blood-fluke

Absztrakt Az állatokban sok mételyfaj él, amelyek lárvája a gazda bőrén keresztül fertőzi azt. Ezek közül az ember szempontjából a legfontosabbak az emlősök vérmételyei, mert belőlük kerülnek ki az embert fertőzni képes vérmételyek is. Több fajuk a trópusi országok lakóinak rettegett schistosomosisát okozza, míg más fajok behatolnak ugyan az ember bőrébe, de adulttá nem válnak a testében. A mérsékelt égövben főleg az utóbbi, bőrgyulladás formájában jelentkező infekció fordul elő. A mételylárvák eredete legtöbbször nem tisztázható, ezért általában sem orvosok, sem állatorvosok nem foglalkoznak a fertőzés forrásával. Szarvasokban élő mételyfajról bizonyítottuk be, hogy a régen „vízi rühösség”-nek nevezett bőrbántalmat csigákból kirajzó cercariák okozzák. A Duna egyik árterén endemikus Schistosoma turkestanicum okozta dermatitis ritkán kerül orvos szeme elé, pedig informális közlések alapján úgy tűnik, hogy rendszeresen előforduló tünet a métely élőhelyén lévő vizekben halászó vagy fürdőző embereken. Ráutaló kórelőzmény esetén indokolt a humán vérmétely-fertőzöttséghez hasonló szerológiai reakciót adó cercaria dermatitis eredetét kivizsgáltatni. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(40), 1579–1586. | Abstract Several trematodes that parasitize vertebrate animals utilize swimming aquatic larvae to infect the host percutaneously. The most important ones among these parasites are the blood-flukes of birds and mammals comprising species that are also zoonotic. Within this latter group are species that cause the bilharziasis or schistosomiasis of inhabitants of the tropical countries, and other trematode species that are able to penetrate human skin, but do not develop to an adult form of the worm in the body. In temperate climates this latter type of infection occurs mainly in the form of an unpleasant inflammation of the skin and is often called “swimmer’s itch”. In most of these cases, the origin of the larvae remains unexplored, the source of the infection is neglected by the medical or veterinarian practitioners. Herein we report for the first time in Hungary that the cause of such dermatitis was the cercariae of Schistosoma turkestanicum, which infected red deer (Cervus elaphus) in this country. The local name of this pristine disease is “water mange” and it occurs only in one of the floodplains of the Danube. On the basis of informal communication this symptom seems to be rather regular among people who do fishing or have a bath in the habitat of the blood-fluke. In the case of adequate anamnesis it is worth examining the origin of the cercarial dermatitis which may give cross-reactions with human schistosomiasis during serological tests. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(40), 1579–1586

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Hungary: an overview of recent and historical occurrence

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Ubiquiter circovirus sequences raise challenges in laboratory diagnosis: The case of honey bee and bee mite, reptiles, and free living amoebae

Circoviruses of pigs and birds are established pathogens, however, the exact role of other, recently described circoviruses and circovirus-like viruses remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was the detection of circoviruses in neglected host species, including honey bees, exotic reptiles and free-living amoebae by widely used broad-spectrum polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays specific for the replication initiation protein coding gene of these viruses. The majority of sequences obtained from honey bees were highly similar to canine and porcine circoviruses, or, were distantly related to dragonfly cycloviruses. Other rep sequences detected in some honey bees, reptiles and amoebae showed similarities to various rep sequences deposited in the GenBank. Back-to-back PCR primers designed for the amplification of whole viral genomes failed to work that suggested the existence of integrated rep-like elements in many samples. Rolling circle amplification and exonuclease treatment confirmed the absence of small circular DNA genomes in the specimens analysed. In case of honey bees Varroa mite DNA contamination might be a source of the identified endogenous rep-like elements. The reptile and amoebae rep-like sequences were nearly identical with each other and with sequences detected in chimpanzee feces raising the possibility that detection of novel or unusual rep-like elements in some host species might originate from the microbial community of the host. Our results indicate that attention is needed when broad-spectrum rep gene specific polymerase chain reaction is chosen for laboratory diagnosis of circovirus infections

Low incidence of Schmallenberg virus infection in natural cases of abortion in domestic ruminants in Hungary

An epizootic caused by a new orthobunyavirus called Schmallenberg virus (SBV) was recognised in European ruminants in 2011 and 2012. The re-emergence of the infection was reported in several countries in the subsequent years. Although the main clinical sign of SBV infection is abortion, the impact of SBV in natural cases of abortion in domestic ruminants had not been systematically examined before this study. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of SBV infection and to compare it to the importance of other causes of abortion by examining 537 natural cases of abortion that had occurred between 2011 and 2017 in Hungary. The cause of abortion was determined in 165 (31%) cases. An infectious cause was proved in 88 (16%) cases. SBV infection was found only in a total of four cases (0.8%) using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Three of them proved to be inapparent SBV infection, and one case was attributed to SBV-induced abortion by detecting non-purulent encephalitis and SBV nucleoprotein by immunohistochemistry in a brain tissue sample. According to the results, SBV played a minor role in natural cases of domestic ruminant abortion in Hungary during the 7-year period following the first SBV outbreak in 2011

Full-length genome sequence analysis of a Hungarian Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus isolated from severe respiratory disease

The authors report the isolation of a Type 1 PRRSV strain from a clinical outbreak of severe respiratory problems and high fever. Next generation sequencing was used to determine the complete genome sequence of the isolate (9625/2012). The virus belongs to a new branch within subtype 1, clade D, containing mostly Spanish sequences and shows highest similarity to PRRSV Olot/1991 and to the Amervac vaccine strain. SimPlot analysis performed with the available full-length genome sequences indicates no evidences of recombination. Mutation analysis of 9625/2012 and the most related strains revealed high proportion of amino acid substitutions in the putative neutralizing epitopes, suggesting an important role of the selective immune pressure in the evolution of PRRSV 9625/2012