Serosurvey of schmallenberg virus infection in sheep in Abruzzo, Italy : short report

Infection with Schmallenberg virus (SBV) causes congenital musculoskeletal and vertebral malformations as well as neurological failures in fetuses of several ruminant species. In this study 1038 sheep samples from 10 flocks in the provinces of Chieti, Teramo and Pescara in Italy have been tested for antibodies against SBV by ELISA test. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the extent of SBV infections in sheep in Italy. The results of the ELISA test identified at least one positive animal in 9 of the 10 sheep flocks tested, and a mean within-flock prevalence of 8.57%. Furthermore, large variability of positive animals between flocks was observed (0 and 42.5%). These results demonstrate that SBV was endemic in this region and there could be is a risk of novel SBV infections in the following lambing season, raising serious concerns about its so rapid and pervasive spread

In vitro evaluation of gut contractile response to histamine in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, 1792)

The contractile response of intestinal strips in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, 1792) to the administration of histaminewas assessed by means of the organ bath technique. Intestinal strips were isolated from 16 clinically healthy fish and mounted inorgan baths. Histamine was compared with the full agonist serotonin, to evaluate their contractile efficacy and potency. Serotonin eliciteda concentration-related contraction in all examined intestinal strips, whereas histamine induced the contraction only in 14 exemplars.Of these, seven exhibited a concentration-related response. A sigmoidal curve was fitted from data (R2 = 0.55) and its best fit values werecompared with those of serotonin. Interestingly, histamine exhibited the same efficacy (Emax) as serotonin (F-test, p > 0.05), but showedlower potency (by an order of magnitude) (F-test, p < 0.01). Moreover, the effect of the H1 antagonist, pyrilamine, has been tested toexclude aspecific contraction due to other agonists eventually released in situ following histamine administration. Pyrilamine showeda marked concentration-related antagonist action on the contractility induced by histamine with complete contractility antagonism at104 M. The authors suggest that the responses to histamine measured in the present study reflect a less sensitive response to an exogenoussource of histamine, possibly due to bacterial metabolism.[...