Sumnjivi i nepodudarni rezultati u dijagnostici bjesnoće testom imuno-fluorescencije.

A total of 7339 fox, dog, cat, cattle, sheep and other mammalian brains were tested to rabies virus antigen. Results of fluorescent antibody test (FAT) were evaluated by two microscopists. Doubtful and discordant results in FAT were analyzed again in virus isolation test (VIT) using mouse neuroblastoma (NA) cell line. Twenty-eight brain samples were determined as doubtful, while 9 brain samples were determined to be positive by one microscopist and negative by the other. Samples which were shown as doubtful and discordant in FAT were retested in VIT. Seventeen of these were positive in the VIT.Na prisutnost antigena virusa bjesnoće bilo je pretraženo ukupno 7339 uzoraka mozgova lisica, mačaka, goveda, ovaca i drugih vrsta životinja. Rezultate izravnog imunofluorescentnog testa vrednovala su dva stručnjaka. Uzorci koji su u testu imunofluorescencije davali sumnjive rezultate, ili se rezultati stručnjaka nisu slagali bili su pretraženi izdvajanjem virusa na kulturi stanica. Rabljena je stanična linija neuroblastoma miševa. Dvadeset osam uzoraka bilo je proglašeno sumnjivim na bjesnoću. Rezultat prvog mikroskopskog pregleda u devet uzoraka bio je pozitivan, a drugog negativan. Od ukupno 37 uzoraka, koji su bili ponovno pretraženi izdvajanjem virusa, 17 je bilo pozitivnih na bjesnoću

Kontrola arteritisa konja na jednoj ergeli.

An epidemiology of infection with equine arteritis virus (EAV) on one stud farm with approximately 350 horses in the period from 1995 to 2008 was studied. Infection was detected by virological methods, using a virus neutralisation test (VNT) for EAV antibody detection in serum samples, and virus isolation and RT-PCR test for virus detection in semen. No clinical picture of the disease was observed. The highest seroprevalence (nearly 100%) was among stallions and old mares, while seroprevalence among young fi llies, before mating, was lower than 9%. A high incidence for seroconversion was detected among fi llies after mating. Virus was detected by RT-PCR and by a virus isolation test in the semen of 40.7% of 76 seropositive stallions. The 8 stallions, which were shedding EAV, were infected within the period of the first three years after birth, but the other 12 seropositive stallions, which were negative for EAV in semen samples, became firstly seropositive 5 years after birth. In this study we confirmed that the major transmission of EAV on the stud farm occurred from shedding stallions to fillies during the mating time, but an important role of virus transmission to other horses is also played by contact between different groups of animals. Virus positive stallions were castrated and a new breeding unit for young foals was established. EAV negative foals were vaccinated and were bred outside the farm up to 3 years of age.Prikazana je epizootiologija arteritisa konja na jednoj ergeli s 350 konja u razdoblju od 1995. do 2008. godine. Zaraza je bila dokazana na osnovi serološke pretrage virus neutralizacijskim testom (VNT), izdvajanja i identifikacije virusa te RT-PCR-om u sjemenu pastuha. Klinički znakovi bolesti nisu bili primijećeni. Najveća seroprevalencija (gotovo 100%) bila je dokazana u pastuha i starih kobila dok je seroprevalencija u ždrjebica prije pripusta bila manja od 9%. Visoka incidencija serokonverzije bila je dokazana u ždrjebica nakon pripusta. Virus je bio dokazan RT-PCR-om i izdvojen iz sjemena 40,7% od 76 serološki pozitivnih pastuha. Osam pastuha koji su izlučivali virus arteritisa bilo je zaraženo u prvim trima godinama života, a ostalih 12 serološki pozitivnih u kojih virus nije bio izdvojen iz sjemena postali su prvi put serološki pozitivni pet godina nakon ždrijebljenja. Potvrđeno je da se virus u najvećoj mjeri prenosio s pastuha koji su izlučivali virus na ždrjebice za vrijeme pripusta. Za prijenos virusa važan je bio i izravan dodir među različitim skupinama životinja. Pastusi pozitivni na virus bili su kastrirani te je osnovana nova uzgojna jedinica za ždrebad. Ždrebad negativna na virus arteritisa bila je cijepljena, a do treće godine držana izvan ergele

Kontrola arteritisa konja na jednoj ergeli.

An epidemiology of infection with equine arteritis virus (EAV) on one stud farm with approximately 350 horses in the period from 1995 to 2008 was studied. Infection was detected by virological methods, using a virus neutralisation test (VNT) for EAV antibody detection in serum samples, and virus isolation and RT-PCR test for virus detection in semen. No clinical picture of the disease was observed. The highest seroprevalence (nearly 100%) was among stallions and old mares, while seroprevalence among young fi llies, before mating, was lower than 9%. A high incidence for seroconversion was detected among fi llies after mating. Virus was detected by RT-PCR and by a virus isolation test in the semen of 40.7% of 76 seropositive stallions. The 8 stallions, which were shedding EAV, were infected within the period of the first three years after birth, but the other 12 seropositive stallions, which were negative for EAV in semen samples, became firstly seropositive 5 years after birth. In this study we confirmed that the major transmission of EAV on the stud farm occurred from shedding stallions to fillies during the mating time, but an important role of virus transmission to other horses is also played by contact between different groups of animals. Virus positive stallions were castrated and a new breeding unit for young foals was established. EAV negative foals were vaccinated and were bred outside the farm up to 3 years of age.Prikazana je epizootiologija arteritisa konja na jednoj ergeli s 350 konja u razdoblju od 1995. do 2008. godine. Zaraza je bila dokazana na osnovi serološke pretrage virus neutralizacijskim testom (VNT), izdvajanja i identifikacije virusa te RT-PCR-om u sjemenu pastuha. Klinički znakovi bolesti nisu bili primijećeni. Najveća seroprevalencija (gotovo 100%) bila je dokazana u pastuha i starih kobila dok je seroprevalencija u ždrjebica prije pripusta bila manja od 9%. Visoka incidencija serokonverzije bila je dokazana u ždrjebica nakon pripusta. Virus je bio dokazan RT-PCR-om i izdvojen iz sjemena 40,7% od 76 serološki pozitivnih pastuha. Osam pastuha koji su izlučivali virus arteritisa bilo je zaraženo u prvim trima godinama života, a ostalih 12 serološki pozitivnih u kojih virus nije bio izdvojen iz sjemena postali su prvi put serološki pozitivni pet godina nakon ždrijebljenja. Potvrđeno je da se virus u najvećoj mjeri prenosio s pastuha koji su izlučivali virus na ždrjebice za vrijeme pripusta. Za prijenos virusa važan je bio i izravan dodir među različitim skupinama životinja. Pastusi pozitivni na virus bili su kastrirani te je osnovana nova uzgojna jedinica za ždrebad. Ždrebad negativna na virus arteritisa bila je cijepljena, a do treće godine držana izvan ergele

Sumnjivi i nepodudarni rezultati u dijagnostici bjesnoće testom imuno-fluorescencije.

A total of 7339 fox, dog, cat, cattle, sheep and other mammalian brains were tested to rabies virus antigen. Results of fluorescent antibody test (FAT) were evaluated by two microscopists. Doubtful and discordant results in FAT were analyzed again in virus isolation test (VIT) using mouse neuroblastoma (NA) cell line. Twenty-eight brain samples were determined as doubtful, while 9 brain samples were determined to be positive by one microscopist and negative by the other. Samples which were shown as doubtful and discordant in FAT were retested in VIT. Seventeen of these were positive in the VIT.Na prisutnost antigena virusa bjesnoće bilo je pretraženo ukupno 7339 uzoraka mozgova lisica, mačaka, goveda, ovaca i drugih vrsta životinja. Rezultate izravnog imunofluorescentnog testa vrednovala su dva stručnjaka. Uzorci koji su u testu imunofluorescencije davali sumnjive rezultate, ili se rezultati stručnjaka nisu slagali bili su pretraženi izdvajanjem virusa na kulturi stanica. Rabljena je stanična linija neuroblastoma miševa. Dvadeset osam uzoraka bilo je proglašeno sumnjivim na bjesnoću. Rezultat prvog mikroskopskog pregleda u devet uzoraka bio je pozitivan, a drugog negativan. Od ukupno 37 uzoraka, koji su bili ponovno pretraženi izdvajanjem virusa, 17 je bilo pozitivnih na bjesnoću

Nearly complete genome sequences of two bovine viral diarrhea virus isolates, subtype 1f strain SLO/1170/2000 and subtype 1d strain SLO/2416/2002

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) subtypes 1f and 1d were isolated forthe first time in Slovenia in 1999 and detected later in a majority of BVDV-infectedcattle herds. Here, we report the first nearly complete genome sequences of noncyto-pathogenic BVDV-1f strain SLO/1170/2000 and cytopathogenic BVDV-1d strainSLO/2416/2002, isolated in Sloveni

Molecular and genetic characteristics of small ruminant lentiviruses in Slovenia

Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV) are spread throughout the world, including Slovenia, where the first evidence of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) infection was found in 1996. This study was conducted to investigate the molecular and genetic characteristics of SRLV infection in Slovenia in order to classify our strains in relation to other known SRLV strains worldwide as well as to establish molecular techniques in concordance with serology. In this study, 340 goats and sheep were tested. Serological examination revealed that 57% of the goats and only 14% of the sheep were seropositive. The results of this study also show that the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) used in this study is less reliable than ELISA, with only 60.6% of the seropositive animals being PCR positive. Thirty-eight nucleotide sequences of the gag region encoding the matrix protein were determined and compared to sequences derived from the GenBank, revealing that Slovenian SRLV strains belong to sequence groups A and B, being maedivisna virus (MVV) and CAEV-like, respectively. In one goat herd, the presence of more than one genotype was confirmed and the majority of goat SRLV sequences were more closely related to MVV than to CAEV prototype strains

Experiences with rabies eradication programs

Oral vaccination as a method of rabies eradication in the field was first started in Switzerland in 1978 and after 1984 several other EU countries followed this practice. Due to oral vaccination some European countries are now rabies-free in terrestrial animals. In Slovenia, after the first experimental oral vaccination and study of vaccination models from 1988 -1992, the spring-autumn campaigns have been carried out since 1995. The model of oral vaccination of wildlife requires 16-20 baits per km2 in the vaccination area. The baits were distributed by plane. They were dispersed from a height of 300-500 m. The aeroplanes' paths were 1000 metres apart. In the vaccination campaigns two vaccines were used. Lysvulpen®, produced by the Bioveta company at the Czech Republic, was laid down in the southwestern part of the country, and Fuchsoral®, produced by the German company Impfstoffwerk Dessau-Tornau, was placed in the eastern part of Slovenia. A rapid decline of rabies was evidenced from 1995 to 1999, when the oral vaccination program in the whole territory using the aircraft baits distributing system was practiced. In 1999, only 6 rabies cases were laboratory-confirmed, whereas in 1995, 1089 rabies cases were documented. Of the 14 rabies cases detected in 1998, 12 were found as an island in a circle with a radius of 30 km in the centre of the vaccinated area. In 2000 and 2001, rabies incidence increased again, so it was decided to change the baits distribution system in the year 2001. The vaccination by crossing flights in certain areas was introduced. In the next year (2002), after changing the vaccination strategy, positive cases rapidly dropped and only 15 cases in 2002, and 8 cases were found in 2003, near the non-vaccinated border with Croatia