Formic acid in the control of varroatosis: a practical approach.

To evaluate the applicability of formic acid in the control of varroatosis, a trial on 55 hives was carried out during the second half of August. Into the moving base of the hive were inserted 60% formic-acid-soaked pads. The treatment was administered according to two different schedules: weekly treatment for 4 weeks, and treatment every 3 days for 2.5-3 weeks. With the first schedule, efficacy equal to 94.3% and 89.6% in 22 and 15 hives, respectively, was obtained; in eight hives treated using the second schedule, efficacy of 98.8% was obtained. As controls, 10 hives treated with Apistan were used. No adverse effects on bees were observed in the hives treated with formic acid.

Sylvatic rabies in Italy: epidemiology.

Epidemiological data on sylvatic rabies in Italy, during 10 years, from 1977 to 1986 are reported. This rabies epizootic expanded to all the alpine arch from Trieste to Aosta, can be divided in five different outbreaks. The good knowledge of the infected alpine area helped us in the identification of rabies outbreaks and in rabies struggle and prevention. Data from the literature on the relationship: landscape/fox/density/fox hunting/rabies have been confirmed and contributed to disease eradication. In a ten year epizootic, no human cases of rabies have been reported thanks to continuing health education and pre/post infection vaccination of persons at risk. The systemic vaccination of dogs and grazing animals and the severe struggle to stray dogs and cats reduced rabies of domestic animals to 1/10 as compared with the other European countries. Hunter's education together with valuable rewards made possible a good monitoring of sylvatic rabies diagnostic and rabies eradication after the first wave of rabies. In order to eradicate the last two rabies outbreaks, oral fox vaccination, using attenuated live vaccine, has been carried out with immediate efficacious results.

[The Italian experience in the control of rabies. II. Laboratory research]. / L'esperienza italiana nel controllo della rabbia. II. Ricerche di laboratorio.

Diagnoses of rabies have been performed at the Zooprophylactic Institutes of Brescia and Padua since 1977, 5,765 foxes have been examined and 1,805 (31.30%) resulted positive. The same Institutes have performed also the laboratory tests in order to control the presence of Tetracycline, the serum conversion and the presence of wild or attenuated viruses in the nervous tissue of foxes and other wild animals in occasion of the oral vaccination campaigns of foxes.

[Multicenter study of antirabies antibodies in vaccinated subjects: comparison of serologic methods]. / Ricerca multicentrica di anticorpi antirabbici in soggetti vaccinati: confronto tra metodiche sierologiche.

Polycentric research is performed in three laboratories to value the immunological response in vaccinated persons against rabies. The serological methods were: the immunoenzymatic test with virus of HDCV vaccine (EIA-V) and viral glycoprotein purified (EIA-P), the neutralizing in vitro test (RFFIT) and the immunofluorescent indirect test (IFI). The sera of 119 subjects were examined by three laboratories, every performed a different test. It is observed a concordance of 98.3% between RFFIT and EIA-V, of 86.8% between RFFIT and EIA-P, of 80.5% between RFFIT and IFI. The RFFIT is the method more sensible and specific for rabies antibody, but more expensive and difficult. The IFI showed late nucleocapsid antibodies and more false positive and negative cases. The EIA-V and EIA-P are efficient, sensible, specific, and not expensive routine methods to point out protective titres of antibodies, above 0.5 UI/ml after 15 day the inoculation of vaccine HDCV.

Vaccination of cattle with live and inactivated rabies vaccines: a study of antibody response.

The authors vaccinated 152 cattle divided into three groups against rabies. The first group received the ERA strain and the second group an inactivated vaccine. The third group received the inactivated vaccine on two occasions with an interval of 60 days between the two doses. Their antibody response was surveyed with the fluorescent foci-inhibition test carried out on blood samples collected during a 10-month period. All animals developed an almost identical antibody response. However, at the sixth and tenth months, there was a higher number of seropositive animals in the groups vaccinated with the killed vaccine.

A study of antibody levels in wild ruminants vaccinated against rabies.

The authors have vaccinated 22 fallow deer (Dama dama) and 10 mouflons (Ovis ammon musimon) against rabies with an inactivated vaccine: 4 fallow deer with 1 ml, 14 fallow deer and 10 mouflons with 2 ml, 4 animals were kept as controls (fallow deer). The antibody responses were checked by fluorescent foci inhibition carried out on blood samples collected during a two-year period. All the animals developed antibody titres and were still protected after 24 months.

A summary of antibody titration experiments in some animal species treated with ERA vaccine and an inactivated rabies vaccine.

The results of antibody titrations in different animal species vaccinated against rabies are reported. The following points are considered: (1) antibody titration may be used to detect an immunity status in dogs, (2) equines should be vaccinated in infected areas, (3) experiments in progress are comparing ERA vaccine and an inactivated vaccine in bovines, and (4) the vaccination of fallow deer (Dama dama) and moufflons (Ovis ammon musimon) produced results suggesting an extension of the experiment with the purpose of vaccinating wild ruminants whenever possible.

[Attenuated rabies virus, ERA strain, in cattle and dogs vaccinated with multiple doses]. / Recherche sur le virus attenue de la rage, souche ERA, chez des bovins et des chiens vaccines avec des doses multiples.

Investigation on the vaccination of 18 cattle and 5 dogs against rabies is reported. Each animal received multiple doses of ERA strain vaccine intramuscularly in the gluteal or masseter region. The saliva, the brain and salivary glands of the vaccinated animals were examined to detect the presence of ERA virus using immunofluorescent test and mouse inoculation. The virus was never found in the saliva and organs of treated animals. Circulating antibodies against ERA rabies virus were detected in all vaccinated cattle and dogs.

Antibody levels following ERA rabies vaccine in cattle.

The humoral response in cattle treated with ERA strain rabies vaccine, was studied utilizing the following criteria: antibody titres determined by RFFIT, seroimmunological monitoring of experimentally vaccinated animals, a comparison of data obtained from cattle vaccinated and maintained under field conditions in the absence of anamnestic information. The average antibody responses in the field experiment are in agreement with the laboratory animal response, both showing highest levels at day 15 after vaccination; at day 30 in both groups the immune response is sensibly lower, to remain then on a constant level after day 90 and stay about 0.5 I.U./ml up to the fifteenth month.

[Control of wildlife rabies in North-Eastern Italy]. / Le contrôle de la rage selvatique dans le nord-est de l'Italie.

The authors describe the propagation of wildlife rabies in the Bolzano province of north-eastern Italy in 1977 by means of the crossing of the Italian-Austrian border, and the disappearance of the infection after a decrease in fox density. They establish a relationship between the intensity of fox decrease at the beginning of rabies contamination of the territory and during the following years and the final disappearance of the infection. In order to show indirectly the supported thesis, they take into consideration the results found in the Udine province nearby, where the struggle resulted in failure because of lack of motivation, organization and funds. They studied at the same time, the development of wildlife rabies on the border of Venetian regions and Austria, which is a steep mountainous barrier 300 km long. During four years, rabies entered Italy from Austria six times. Two times into territory already undergoing fox-decreasing programmes, and kept under control. In the last case, the infection did not propagate, striking only one fox that crossed the border.