First international collaborative study to evaluate rabies antibody detection method for use in monitoring the effectiveness of oral vaccination programmes in fox and raccoon dog in Europe.

The most effective and sustainable method to control and eliminate rabies in wildlife is the oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of target species, namely foxes and raccoon dogs in Europe. According to WHO and OIE, the effectiveness of oral vaccination campaigns should be regularly assessed via disease surveillance and ORV antibody monitoring. Rabies antibodies are generally screened for in field animal cadavers, whose body fluids are often of poor quality. Therefore, the use of alternative methods such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been proposed to improve reliability of serological results obtained on wildlife samples. We undertook an international collaborative study to determine if the commercial BioPro ELISA Rabies Ab kit is a reliable and reproducible tool for rabies serological testing. Our results reveal that the overall specificity evaluated on naive samples reached 96.7%, and the coefficients of concordance obtained for fox and raccoon dog samples were 97.2% and 97.5%, respectively. The overall agreement values obtained for the four marketed oral vaccines used in Europe were all equal to or greater than 95%. The coefficients of concordance obtained by laboratories ranged from 87.2% to 100%. The results of this collaborative study show good robustness and reproducibility of the BioPro ELISA Rabies Ab kit.

[Serological detection of emerging viral infections in wild boars from different hunting regions of Southern Germany]. / Serologische Erfassung von viralen Infektionskrankheiten in der Wildschweinpopulation verschiedener Jagdgebiete Süddeutschlands.

OBJECTIVE: Wild boars represent a possible virus reservoir for notifiable diseases of farm animals, including Aujeszky's disease (AD) and classical swine fever (CSF). Monitoring of the epidemiological situation in the wild boar population is especially relevant in countries that are officially free from these diseases. Apart from OIE-notifiable diseases, other viral agents that are widely distributed and play a significant role in farm animals, such as the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), porcine circovirus type2 (PCV-2), and swine influenza virus (SIV), are sporadically detected in wild boars. Thus, the wild boar population is a potential source for maintenance of these infections in farm animals. The aim of this study was therefore to test for antibodies to the indicated emerging viral infections in wild boars in several hunting regions of Southern Germany. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Blood serum of 94 shot wild boars from 19 hunting regions in Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg were collected. Antibodies to AD virus (ADV), CSF virus (CSFV), PRRSV, SIV (H1N1) (all by IDEXX ELISA) and PCV-2 (IgM and IgG by Ingenasa ELISA) in blood serum were determined. RESULTS: Antibodies to ADV were detected in four animals (4.2%), to PRRSV in one animal (1.2%), to SIV (H1N1) in two animals (2.1%) and to PCV-2 (IgG) in 15 animals (16.0%) of which three animals also had antibodies to PCV-2 (IgM) (3.2%). CSFV antibodies were not detected in the examined wild boars. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Compared to other studies in several European and American states, the seroprevalence to the tested emerging diseases was low in this study. Nevertheless, the wild boar population may still be a virus reservoir and therefore a source of infection for domestic pigs. This is especially important in the case of notifiable diseases, like AD and CSF. Therefore, a continuous monitoring of those diseases in the wild boar population would be advisable.

Analysis of vaccine-virus-associated rabies cases in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) after oral rabies vaccination campaigns in Germany and Austria.

To eradicate rabies in foxes, almost 97 million oral rabies vaccine baits have been distributed in Germany and Austria since 1983 and 1986, respectively. Since 2007, no terrestrial cases have been reported in either country. The most widely used oral rabies vaccine viruses in these countries were SAD (Street Alabama Dufferin) strains, e.g. SAD B19 (53.2%) and SAD P5/88 (44.5%). In this paper, we describe six possible vaccine-virus-associated rabies cases in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) detected during post-vaccination surveillance from 2001 to 2006, involving two different vaccines and different batches. Compared to prototypic vaccine strains, full-genome sequencing revealed between 1 and 5 single nucleotide alterations in the L gene in 5 of 6 SAD isolates, resulting in up to two amino acid substitutions. However, experimental infection of juvenile foxes showed that those mutations had no influence on pathogenicity. The cases described here, coming from geographically widely separated regions, do not represent a spatial cluster. More importantly, enhanced surveillance showed that the vaccine viruses involved did not become established in the red fox population. It seems that the number of reported vaccine virus-associated rabies cases is determined predominantly by the intensity of surveillance after the oral rabies vaccination campaign and not by the selection of strains.

[Isoimmune haemolytic icterus in neonatal calves as a consequence of vaccination against piroplasmosis]. / Isoimmunhämolytischer Ikterus bei Kälbern in Folge einer Piroplasmose-Schutzimpfung.

The article refers about several cases of isoimmunohaemolytic icterus in neonatal calves from different farms, whose dams had all been vaccinated against piroplasmosis. Clinical signs of immunomediated icterus neonatorum gravis, results of blood chemistry (with special regard to liver-specific parameters in the neonatal calf and results of haematology) as well as gross pathology and pathohistology are to be discussed. It is summarized, that the most relevant indicators for a hepatopathy in the newborn calf are total-bilirubin and the glutamate-dehydrogenase. Today, the production of piroplasmosis-vaccines out of blood of splenectomized animals is referred to as the only practicable method of harvesting sufficient amounts of vaccine-antigen.

Sclerotherapy of cardia varices in a small child by means of a flexible gastroscope.

Sclerosing the wall of oesophageal varices is a well-known and recognized therapeutic procedure, which has been applied in the last years in paediatric patients as well. We succeeded in sclerosing the wall of cardia varices also, by means of a flexible fibre-glass endoscope, in a two-and-a-half-year-old girl.

[Acute gastrointestinal bleeding: results of endoscopic sclerosing of esophageal varices]. / Akute gastrointestinale Blutung: Resultate der endoskopischen Sklerosierung von Osophagusvarizen.

The indications for, technic and results of endoscopic sclerosing of the esophageal mucosa above esophageal varices are discussed and the effect of sclerosis documented histologically. Given strict criteria for the indications, the short and long-term results are encouraging.