Molecular detection of Theileria sp. ZS TO4 in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and questing Haemaphysalis concinna ticks in Eastern Austria.

Theileria spp. are intracellular protozoa transmitted by ixodid ticks. T. parva and T. annulata are highly pathogenic and responsible for serious disease in domestic ruminants in tropical and subtropical countries. However, asymptomatic findings of Theileria sp. in wild ungulates lead to the suggestion that wild ruminants play a role as reservoirs for these piroplasms. In a game enclosure in Eastern Austria (Federal county of Burgenland), piroplasms were detected with molecular analysis in blood samples of all 80 examined asymptomatic red deer (Cervus elaphus). Furthermore, piroplasms were detected in four out of 12 questing nymphs of Haemaphysalis concinna. In 32 Ixodes ticks sampled on-site, no Theileria DNA was detected. Sequence analysis identified these samples from both red deer and ticks as Theileria sp. ZS TO4. Our findings indicate that farmed red deer serve as asymptomatic carriers and adapted intermediate hosts of Theileria sp. in Central Europe and H. concinna was identified as a possible vector species of Theileria sp. ZS TO4.

Ticks and the city: ectoparasites of the Northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus) in an urban park.

The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is known to host several ectoparasites and also tick-borne pathogens, but there is scant information on its eastern relative, the Northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus). We have studied an urban population of E. roumanicus in a city park of central Budapest, Hungary, for 2 years to investigate their tick and flea species. A total of 5063 ticks and 818 fleas were collected from 247 hedgehogs (including 46 recaptures). Ectoparasite prevalence and intensity differed significantly (p<0.001) between the 2 study years attributable to the enhanced tick removal rate due to anaesthesia used in the second year. The most common tick species was Ixodes ricinus (93.7%) followed by unidentified Ixodes larvae (5%). Only 57 hedgehog ticks (I. hexagonus) were removed from 22 hedgehogs. One I. acuminatus and one Hyalomma marginatum nymph were also collected. Mean intensity of tick infestation was 26.5 (range: 0-155 ticks/host) and mean intensity of flea infestation was 6.6 (range: 0-78 fleas/host). Most fleas (99.4%) collected were hedgehog fleas (Archaeopsylla erinacei), dog fleas (Ctenocephalides canis) were found on 2 hedgehogs. Hyalomma marginatum has previously not been found in Hungary, and I. acuminatus was only reported sporadically before. The large number of ectoparasites and the 2 imported tick species may thus survive in close proximity to humans if hedgehogs are present. This calls attention to the risk of possible tick-borne human infections that urban hedgehogs can pose.

First molecular evidence of Anaplasma ovis and Rickettsia spp. in keds (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) of sheep and wild ruminants.

To evaluate the presence of rickettsial agents in hippoboscid flies with molecular methods, 81 sheep keds (Melophagus ovinus) were collected from 23 sheep, 144 deer keds (Lipoptena cervi) were caught in the environment, and a further 463 and 59 individuals of the latter species were obtained from fresh carcasses of 29 red deer and 17 roe deer, respectively. DNA was extracted individually or in pools. Anaplasma ovis was demonstrated in all examined sheep keds, and from one pool of free-living deer keds. Rickettsia helvetica or other, unidentified rickettsiae were also present in one pool of sheep keds, and in four pools of deer keds from both red deer and roe deer. This is the first account of polymerase chain reaction positivity of hippoboscid flies for A. ovis and rickettsiae. These results raise the possibility that-apart from cattle and roe deer as already reported-sheep and red deer might also play a reservoir role in the epidemiology of rickettsioses.

Claudin-5-positive angioleiomyoma in the uterus of a degu (Octodon degus ).

A 5-year-old female degu (Octodon degus ) showed the clinical sign of metrorrhagia. During ovariohysterectomy a circumscribed tumoural lesion was found in the right uterine horn. The histopathological diagnosis of this soft tissue mass was primary benign cavernous angioleiomyoma of the uterus. During immunohistochemical analysis the neoplastic endothelial cells of this mixed mesenchymal tumour showed strong membrane positivity for the endothelial marker claudin-5 but were negative for CD31 (another endothelial marker). The endothelial cells of the internal positive control tissues such as intact peritumoural vessels were positive for claudin-5 but negative for the CD31 endothelial marker. As it has been described also in other species, it seems that claudin-5 is a better endothelial marker than CD31 for the detection of normal and neoplastic endothelial cells in different tissues of degus.

Poxvirus infection in Hungarian great tits (Parus major): case report.

From a total of 1819 great tits (Parus major) ringed in 2007 in Pilis Mountains, Hungary, 15 birds presented nodular proliferative lesions on different areas of the head and eyelids, suggesting a poxvirus infection. Three birds were submitted for analysis. The presence of avipoxvirus infection was confirmed by histopathology, electron microscopy (EM) and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based technique. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a 428 base pairs (bp) fragment of the viral 4b core protein gene revealed 100% identity between two of the Hungarian isolates (PM9 HUN, PM33 HUN) and two great tit poxvirus strains isolated in Norway in 1973 (GTV A256, GTV A311). The third Hungarian isolate (PM34 HUN) was more closely related to a different Norwegian isolate (GTVA310) than to the Hungarian isolates. The nucleotide sequence analysis of a shorter fragment of the viral 4b core protein (227 bp) gene revealed 100% identity between the Hungarian isolates, the same Norwegian isolates and a great tit poxvirus strain detected in Austria in 2007.