Bovine tuberculosis outbreak in farmed American bison (Bison bison) in Poland.

Poland has been an officially bovine tuberculosis (bTB) free country for the last seven years. The problem currently observed is the increasing number of new cases of bTB in wild species, kept in a farmed herd and free-living herd: European bison (Bison bonasus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), wolves (Canis lupus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). This article presents the case of Mycobacterium caprae transmission to an American bison (Bison bison) herd kept on a private farm in Eastern Poland.

Serological studies to determine the occurrence of Johne's disease and mycoplasma infection in the Northern-East Polish population of European bison (Bison bonasus).

A serological study of twenty three European bison (Bison bonasus) derived from Northern-East Poland for the seroprevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Mycoplasma bovis, Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC, Mycoplasma agalactiae and Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae was conducted. Only specific antibodies to M. bovis were detected in two animals (8.7%) which were connected with the clinical signs and macroscopic anatomopathological lesions.

The porcine brucellosis--evidence of the role of Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 in occurrence of false positive serological reactions.

Forty four pigs with typical characteristics for false positive serolpgical reactions (FPSR) were examined for the presence of Yersinia enterocolitica O:9. The positive reactions were observed in rose bengal test (RBT, N = 23 sera), serum agglutination test (SAT, N = 16), complement fixation test (CFT, N = 9), indirect ELISA (i-ELISA, N= 11) in first, and in RBT (N = 14), SAT (N = 8), CFT (N = 7) and i-ELISA (N = 18) in second examination, respectively. In bacteriological examination Y enterocolitica was confirmed in 12 cases. Six of these isolates were identified with PCR as Y enterocolitica 0:9.

Characteristics of Brucella strains isolated from animals in Poland.

A total of 42 Brucella strains were isolated from animals in Poland in years 2003-2012. Most of them (N=37) originated from wild animals, 3 from cattle, 1 from pig and 1 from sheep. The strains were characterised using both bacteriological and molecular (Bruce-ladder and MLVA) methods. The examinations revealed that all strains from wild boars, hares, cattle and pigs (N=41) had the same phenotypic characteristics and were classified as B. suis biovar 2. The remaining strain, isolated from sheep, was classified as B. ovis. The molecular examination showed that all B. suis biovar 2 strains, except one, had the same molecular profile as reference strain B. suis bv2 Thomsen. Different from the others strain originated from boars imported to Poland and its VNTR profile was typical forIberian strains.

The value of fluorescence polarisation assay in verification of problematic sera from pigs for brucellosis.

The aim of the study was an evaluation of fluorescence polarisation assay (FPA) as a potential tool improving specificity of serological diagnosis of brucellosis in pigs. The evaluation was done by comparing the results of FPA with the results of rose bengal test (RBT), serum agglutination test (SAT), complement fixation test (CFT) and ELISA when false positive sera were tested. One hundred ninety porcine samples, reacting positively in at least one classical serological assay were used. We observed that among 198 sera, 104 were also positive in FPA. The studies confirmed that porcine FPA adds little as far as specificity in comparison to other methods is concerned.

The ELISA for the examination of hare sera for anti-Brucella antibodies.

Hare brucellosis is caused primarily by Brucella suis biovar 2. Hares along with wild boars are the natural reservoir of this microorganism. In view of restriction of applicability of traditional serological methods the work aimed to develop the ELISA to examine hare sera for the presence of anti-Brucella antibodies. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigen obtained from the strain S19 of Brucella abortus and the conjugate of antibodies against rabbit immunoglobulin with horseradish peroxidase were used in the test. Hares' sera positive and negative in the CFT were used as controls of the ELISA. The sera collected from 9 hares suspected to be infected with Brucella organisms, positive in CFT (in this number 7 hares revealed clinical symptoms or anathomopathological lesions characteristic of brucellosis), 6 sera from hares showing no symptoms of the disease, negative in CFT and 520 sera from hares monitored for brucellosis were tested. All serum samples from hares suspected for Brucella infection were positive in ELISA and 2 of them were negative in RBPT. Additionally among the samples from hares monitored 12 sera were positive in ELISA and CFT, whereas 9 sera from 12 ones were also positive in the RBPT. The obtained results indicated that the ELISA developed in our laboratory proved to be equivalent in specificity to CFT. In addition, ELISA proved to be more sensitive than RBPT for the diagnosis of Brucella infection in hares.