The COVID-19-pandemic has unprecedently spurred vaccine development against SARS-CoV-2. Around 170 vaccine projects are listed by WHO and 29 have already entered clinical phase trials. But as scientist all over the world are striving to develop an efficacious vaccine it may be helpful to risk a glance into the backyard of coronavirus research. In veterinary medicine there is a long record of vaccine development against coronaviruses. This review focuses on vaccination approaches against coronaviruses in chicken, pigs and cats. Strain variation, induction of effective, mucosal immunity and avoidance of immunopathology are just a few of the manifold challenges to be faced on the way to the efficacious coronavirus vaccine. Although it proved hard to achieve sterile immunity, in veterinary medicine live-attenuated vaccines helped to reduce clinical symptoms and minimize economic losses. In the case of SARS-CoV-2 innovative reverse vaccinology may be the conduit to surpass all obstacles and rapidly provide an efficacious vaccine against the pandemic virus.

The infrastructural design of an animal farm can significantly motivate or discourage adopting biosecurity measures in the daily routines. Proper planning and collaboration between architects, farmers and veterinarians is critical in the prevention of serious biosecurity issues, possible financial and animal losses. The consistent use of a uniform nomenclature that encompasses both, construction-functional and veterinary-epidemiological terms is therefore essential. We developed a conceptual framework for key constructional elements in terms of biosecurity and characterize key concepts from both disciplines, architecture and veterinary epidemiology. From an epidemiological point of view, we focus on pathogens and vectors, and from a constructional perspective on biosecurity areas, barriers and locks. The central aspect of the framework is the capability of barriers and locks to prevent (uncontrolled) movement of vectors between different biosecurity areas, thus interrupting pathways of pathogen transmission. Concepts are abstracted and aggregated in such a way that they can be applied to any animal husbandry system, regardless of species or size, and independently of a particular disease. The aim is providing a common basis of terminology that facilitates cross-sectoral cooperation.

A four years old Red-crested turaco (Tauraco erythrolophus) was found apathetic sitting on the ground of the aviary and died during the clinical examination. Necropsy of the emaciated bird revealed multiple granulomas within the body cavity and inner organs. Histopathological examinations of these granulomas showed epitheloid macrophages and central necrosis demarcated by giant cells. Using Ziehl-Neelsen staining, massive accumulations of acid-fast bacteria were found within the lesions and the preliminary diagnosis “avian tuberculosis” was made. This infectious disease is mainly caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium (Maa) or M. genavense (Mg). However, microbiological culture followed by PCR revealed the occurrence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (Mah). The isolate was assigned to INMV profile 51, which has been described in Asia and Europe mainly in humans, as well as in pigs and cattle until now. When infected birds have intensive contact with humans, a risk assessment must be carried out based on the identity of the causative pathogen. For this purpose, the determination of the species and if applicable the subspecies is mandatory and an additional molecular typing, e.g. by INMV profiling, helpful.

Haemorrhagic septicaemia (septicaemic pasteurellosis) caused by Pasteurella (P.) multocida capsular type B has been diagnosed in cattle in the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany) for the first time in June 2019 since its last official report in Germany in 1986 and its reoccurrence in 2010. A total of 13 cattle succumbed to sudden death on four farms located in the northern part of the Black Forest between June and November 2019. Post-mortem examinations were carried out on seven of these animals and all displayed marked hyperaemia, haemorrhages and oedema in the subcutis and in several inner organs. The pathological-anatomical findings were confirmed by histopathological analyses. Cultivation of P. multocida was successful in five of seven cattle with high bacterial loads in internal organs, and poor growth in two animals. All isolates were clearly identified as P. multocida by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and were compared with isolates originating from an HS outbreak in eastern Germany in summer 2010 using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Molecular capsular and LPS genotyping assigned six of the isolates to the genotypes B:L2 and one to B:L6, respectively. All isolates belonged to the RIRDC MLST genotype ST122. Antimicrobial testing of P. multocida isolates originating from each farm based on the determination of minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) revealed susceptibility to ampicillin, ceftiofur, enrofloxacin, florfenicol, penicillin G, tetracycline, and tulathromycin. Resistance was determined for spectinomycin.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) poses an important threat to poultry farming and the whole value chain. Since biosecurity is a major strategy to reduce the risk of HPAI virus introduction into farms and poultry flocks, a self-assessment tool for farmers concerning their farm-specific biosecurity management was developed. It is based on a questionnaire referring to risk factors retrieved from the literature or elaborated by experts, respectively. The risk factors are related to farm-, biosecurity- and animal health-management. Their epidemiological relevance is expressed through weights that were determined by an expert panel in a two-stage Delphi approach. The overall risk of a farm is estimated as the complementary to the percentage compliance with the measures assuring a maximum biosecurity as represented by the compiled questions and their respective weights. The tool is offered as a free of charge, open-access web - based tool, the so-called AI-Risikoampel (AI-Risk Traffic Light), an online anonymous risk-check, which does not only allow to elicit farm-specific optimization potentials concerning biosecurity, but also generates a farm-specific to-do list with tasks ranked according to relevance. Biosecurity gaps may thus be closed by the farmer, possibly also in cooperation with a veterinarian or consultant. The to-date experience concerning the acceptance of the tool and the user statistics are presented.

Domestic dogs are the main source of human rabies deaths – approximately 60,000 annually occurring mostly in Africa and Asia. The World Health Organisation and its partners declared “zero human deaths due to canine rabies by 2030” as a strategic goal. In the context of rabies control, an ethical case scenario from the perspective of a veterinary officer in Uganda is presented. A practice-oriented tool, Ropohl’s responsibil-ity checklist, is applied to structure the individual responsibility of the veterinary officer according to the six core questions. This ethical deliberation was performed in a work-shop following a participatory approach. Based on the ethical deliberation it becomes evident, that the case scenario could be potentially described by moral distress. We suggest that a better understanding of personal responsibility, including its extent and its limits, would help veterinary officers to better cope with difficult and challeng-ing situations.

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) and infections of foxes, raccoon dogs and dogs as the most important definitive hosts of Echinococcus (E.) multilocularis in Central Europe remain topics of general interest. Nonetheless, the incidence in humans in Germany is low (appr. 30 reported new cases per year, maximum 56 cases in 2018). Usually, the infection does not cause any clinical signs in definitive host, whereas it is often lethal in intermediate hosts, particularly in primates. Infections with E. multilocularis occur in all parts of Germany, in particular in the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes); a total of 5602 cases were officially reported in Germany between 2004 and 2019. The epidemiological situation in the definitive hosts can be characterised as endemic and stable. We here review the present knowledge on the life cycle and biology of E. multilocularis and the epidemiological situation in Germany.

Meeting the professional responsibilities of veterinarians in animal research has been described by the German Federal Chamber of Veterinary Surgeons (Bundestierarztekammer, BTK) as a “special ethical challenge”. Veterinarians are involved in animal research, not only as researcher and animal welfare officers, but also as members of ethical review committees and as such require a unique set of skills to provide a wide range of services and practices. Animal research in Europe is strictly regulated. The harm-benefit analysis (HBA) is one of the legal corner stones in project authorization and as such has to be carried out within a specific legal framework. Hence, veterinarians (and other members of ethical review committees) require an understanding of the normative foundation of animal research legislation in order to fulfill their role and responsibilities. Against this background, it is the goal of this article (1) to introduce the rationale and role of the harm concept and the HBA in project evaluation of animal research. (2) We then outline the different harm concepts which the European and the Swiss legislation are based on and (3) elaborate on the moral significance that is given to different forms of harm within the HBA in these legal frameworks. (4) Last, we demonstrate potential practical implications of these conceptually different normative frameworks for project evaluation in animal research with the practical example of genetically disenhancing the ability of rodents to feel pain and to suffer.