Infectious Disease Monitoring of European Bison (<em>Bison bonasus</em>)

In 2019, the 90th anniversary of the restitution of European bison (wisent) will be celebrated. Therefore, the chapter discusses the past, present, and future health threats of the Bison bonasus species that was on the edge of world extinction at the beginning of the twentieth century and was restituted with great efforts from many researchers, breeders, forestry workers, and caretakers. Due to the dramatic genetic “bottleneck” that depleted the gene pool, increasing the inbred of today’s European bison, the breeding may face problems of decreased fertility, deficiency in growth, and increased susceptibility to diseases. While the increasing numbers of European bison may be enjoyed by breeders, the suitable habitat for the largest herbivore in Europe shrinks with increasing human population density, forestry, and agricultural activity. Additional threats include inappropriate management based on animal farming rather than sylvatic ecosystems, need for supplementary winter feeding, and establishment of breeding of related species such as American bison (Bison bison) in Europe. The control of European bison exposure to pathogens through passive and active surveillance is a key component of the species conservation. Hereby, the current knowledge on the epidemiology of the most significant infectious diseases in European bison is presented

Infection exposure, detection and causes of death in perinatal mortalities in Polish dairy herds

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and types of infections in perinatal mortality (PM) cases from Polish dairy farms and the relevance of the presence of infection to the cause of death. This prospective longitudinal study was carried out on 121 PM and 21 control calves with a gestation of ≥260 days. Six control calves were euthanized and examined using the same protocol as for PM calves. Material was collected over a 20-month period between November 2013 and June 2015. The PM and control calves were collected from 29 to 5 herds, respectively. Blood samples from calves were tested for antibodies to Neospora caninum, glycoprotein B of BoHV-1, BVDV and SBV using ELISAs and Leptospira hardjo and Leptospira pomona with the microscopic agglutination test. Brain and kidney samples from all PM and six euthanized control calves were tested using real time PCR to detect Neospora caninum, pathogenic Leptospira spp., BoHV-1 and SBV; brain was examined histopathologically for detection of N. caninum cysts. Samples from eight inner organs from all PM and six control calves were cultured aerobically, anaerobically and microaerobically. Ear samples from all PM and control calves were tested for BVDV using an antigen ELISA. In total, 21.5% of PM calves were infected (antigen and/or antibody-positive) in utero; none of the control calves were infected. Direct evidence of infection (culture, Ag-ELISA, PCR, histopathology) was detected in 9.1% of PM calves. Gestation length in infected singletons was shorter than in uninfected singletons (274 ± 8 vs. 279 ± 7 days; P < 0.01). The odds ratio for diagnosis of infection in single pregnancies ≤275 days was 3.75 (95% CI:1.2–12.1), (P < 0.05). Infection was the cause of death in 10% of calves. The most common infections detected in these Polish PM calves were parasitic (11.6% of PM cases), viral (7.4%) and bacterial (5%). This study demonstrated that indirect evidence of infection is detected more frequently than direct, coinfection is rare, infection is rarely accompanied by gross lesions and is rarely a cause of death in cases of PM

Seroprevalence of bovine herpesvirus 1 related alphaherpesvirus infections in free-living and captive cervids in Poland.

To determine the occurrence of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) related alphaherpesvirus infections in cervids, 1194 serum samples of wild ruminants originating from 59 forest districts of Poland were tested with IBR gB ELISA and virus neutralization test (VNT) against BoHV-1 and cervid herpesvirus 1 (CvHV-1). The seroprevalence differed significantly between free-living and captive cervids (P<0.001) with a total of 89 out of 498 (17.9%) and 268 out of 696 (38.5%) seropositive animals in each type of population. In free-ranging cervids, the highest seroprevalence was found among red deer (25.6%) and in fallow deer (23.1%), while it was the lowest in roe deer (1.7%). The seroprevalence varied at the district level between 0 and 100% with the mean value of 17.4% (95% CI:10.1-24.0). Additionally, seroprevalence was associated with afforestation (chi(2)=7.5; P=0.006) and to some degree with the mean of cattle density in province (chi(2)=7.0; P=0.08). The mean antibody titre against CvHV-1 in VNT (161.8; 95%CI: 146.0-177.6) has been significantly higher (P<0.0001) than the mean titre of BoHV-1 antibodies (10.1; 95%CI: 8.9-11.4). The results showed that BoHV-1 related alphaherpesvirus infections are present in population of free-ranging and farmed cervids in Poland. Based on the VNT results and considering the low susceptibility of red deer to BoHV-1, it seems that the dominant alphaherpesvirus circulating in wild ruminants is most likely CvHV-1 and therefore it is rather unlikely that deer in Poland could play any role as a reservoir of BoHV-1 for cattle

Post-epidemic Schmallenberg virus circulation: parallel bovine serological and Culicoides virological surveillance studies in Ireland

peer-reviewedBackground Schmallenberg virus (SBV) emerged in northern-Europe in 2011 resulting in an epidemic of ruminant abortions and congenital malformations throughout the continent. In the years following the epidemic there have been reports of SBV overwintering and continued circulation in several European countries. When the population-level of immunity declines in exposed regions, re-introduction of SBV could result in further outbreaks of Schmallenberg disease. The aims of this study were to determine the SBV seroprevalence in previously exposed Irish dairy herds in 2014 and to investigate if SBV continued to circulate in these herds in the three years (2013–2015) following the Irish Schmallenberg epidemic. Whole-herd SBV serosurveillance was conducted in 26 herds before (spring) and following the 2014 vector-season (winter), and following the 2015 vector-season (winter). In spring 2014, 5,531 blood samples were collected from 4,070 cows and 1,461 heifers. In winter 2014, 2,483 blood samples were collected from 1,550 youngstock (8–10 months old) and a subsample (n = 933; 288 cows, 645 heifers) of the seronegative animals identified in the spring. Youngstock were resampled in winter 2015. Culicoides spp. were collected in 10 herds during the 2014 vector-season and analysed for SBV; a total of 138 pools (3,048 Culicoides) from 6 SBV vector species were tested for SBV RNA using real-time PCR. Results In spring 2014, animal-level seroprevalence was 62.5 % (cows = 84.7 %; heifers = 0.6 %). Within-herd seroprevalence ranged widely from 8.5 %–84.1 % in the 26 herds. In winter 2014, 22 animals (0.9 %; 10 cows, 5 heifers, 7 youngstock) originating in 17 herds (range 1–4 animals/herd) tested seropositive. In winter 2015 all youngstock, including the 7 seropositive animals in winter 2014, tested seronegative suggesting their initial positive result was due to persistence of maternal antibodies. All of the Culicoides pools examined tested negative for SBV-RNA. Conclusions SBV appears to have recirculated at a very low level in these herds during 2013 and 2014, while there was no evidence of SBV infection in naïve youngstock during 2015. A large population of naïve animals was identified and may be at risk of infection in future years should SBV re-emerge and recirculate as it has done in continental Europe.This research was funded in the Teagasc project MKAB-6520 and the Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Scheme. The rt-RT-PCR testing of Culicoides was financed from the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR) in Poland project No PBS2/A8/24/2013