DETECTION OF ZOONOTIC PATHOGENS IN WILD BIRDS IN THE CROSS-BORDER REGION AUSTRIA - CZECH REPUBLIC.

To assess the importance of wild birds as a reservoir of zoonotic pathogens in Austria and the Czech Republic, we sampled 1,325 wild birds representing 13 orders, 32 families, and 81 species. The majority belonged to orders Columbiformes (43%), Passeriformes (25%), and to birds of prey: Accipitriformes, Strigiformes, and Falconiformes (15%). We collected cloacal swabs from 1,191 birds for bacterial culture and 1,214 triple swabs (conjunctiva, choana, cloaca) for DNA and RNA isolation. The cloacal swabs were processed by classical bacteriologic methods for isolation of Escherichia coli , Salmonella spp., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and thermophilic Campylobacter spp. Nucleic acids isolated from triple swabs were investigated by PCR for West Nile virus, avian influenza viruses, and Chlamydia spp. We also tested tissue samples from 110 fresh carcasses for Mycobacterium spp. by PCR and we cultured fresh droppings from 114 birds for Cryptococcus spp. The most-frequently detected zoonotic bacteria were thermophilic Campylobacter spp. (12.5%) and Chlamydia spp. (10.3%). From 79.2% of the sampled birds we isolated E. coli , while 8.7% and 0.2% of E. coli isolates possessed the virulence genes for intimin (eaeA) and Shiga toxins (stx1 and stx2), respectively. Salmonella spp. were rarely found in the sampled birds (2.2%), similar to findings of MRSA (0.3%). None of the samples were positive for Cryptococcus neoformans , Mycobacterium spp., avian influenza viruses, or West Nile virus.

Survey of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in meat juice of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in several districts of the Czech Republic.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were: 1) to detect antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii from wild boar meat; 1) establish seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in the wild boar population; 3) establish risk factors concerned in higher possible seroprevalence; 4) to estimate the usefulness of meat juice for detection of T. gondii antibodies in wild boar. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Diaphragm meat juice samples from 656 wild boar (Sus scrofa) were collected during the hunting seasons between September 2008 - October 2010 from 9 districts of the Czech Republic. The samples were stratified per age category into 2 groups: piglets (n = 279) and yearlings together with adults (n = 377). The in-house ELISA test was used for the detection of antibodies against T. gondii from the meat juice samples. RESULTS: Antibodies against T. gondii were detected by in-house ELISA in 260 of 656 wild boars (40%) with 26% prevalence in piglets (72/279) and 50% prevalence in yearlings and adults (188/377). The district total seroprevalences ranged between 32% - 59%, with a significantly higher prevalence in the district of Havlíckuv Brod (59%). Statistically significant differences (p-value < 0.05) were found between 2 age categories, and between 9 districts, with a significant variability in the district of Havlíckuv Brod. Seroprevalence correlated positively with farm density, but without any statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The obtained results indicate that consumption of raw or undercooked meat from wild boars can carry an important risk of toxoplasma infection. Post mortem detection of antibodies in meat juice samples using ELISA is a useful alternative to blood serum examination. In addition, a diaphragm sample has been well-proven as a matrix sample for the contemporaneous diagnostics of trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis.

Transgenic mouse brains for the evaluation and quality control of BSE tests.

Rapid BSE tests are widely used diagnostics in veterinary medicine and more than 11 million tests are applied worldwide. The evaluation of new rapid BSE tests and the quality assurance of approved BSE tests pose a challenge owing to the natural scarcity of BSE-infected bovine brainstems and regional variations in prion titer. Transgenic mice expressing bovine prion protein (Tg4092) offer an alternative approach to these problems. To determine whether BSE-infected Tg4092 mouse brains could serve as a general standard for rapid BSE tests, we inoculated Tg4092 mice intracerebrally with BSE prions, harvested brains at defined time points post-infection and analyzed cerebral hemispheres with several approved rapid BSE tests. The results show that de novo formation of the disease-causing prion protein isoform, PrP(Sc), can be monitored during the course of infection. We demonstrate that BSE-infected Tg4092 mouse brains provide a renewable and controllable source of reference samples and suggest that such samples can generally be used for the evaluation and quality control of rapid BSE tests.