Organization Of Animal Health Research Articles

Direct colorimetric LAMP assay for rapid detection of African swine fever virus: A validation study during an outbreak in Vietnam

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly infectious viral disease with high mortality. The most recent ASF outbreak in Vietnam began in 2019, posing a threat to spread to the neighbouring Asian countries. Without a commercial vaccine or efficient chemotherapeutics, rapid diagnosis and necessary biosecurity procedures are required to control the disease. While the diagnostic method of ASF recommended by the World Organization of Animal Health is real-time PCR, the ideal diagnosis procedure including master mix setup, template extraction and a high-cost qPCR equipment for many samples being tested simultaneously is not portable. In this study, a colorimetric loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was modified and evaluated for ASF virus detection using crude serum samples collected from domestic pigs in Vietnam during the 2019 outbreak. The LAMP results can be readily visualized to the naked eye within 30min without the requirement of DNA extraction and sophisticated equipment. The sensitivity, specificity and limit of detection of direct colorimetric LAMP assay were comparable to a commercial diagnostic real-time PCR kit. Results strongly indicate that the adapted colorimetric LAMP assay has a remarkable potential for the in-field diagnosis of ASF.

Comparison of Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of PPR Live Attenuated Vaccines (Nigeria 75/1 and Sungri 96) Administered by Intranasal and Subcutaneous Routes.

Following the successful eradication of rinderpest, the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have set a goal to eradicate peste des petits ruminants (PPR) globally by 2030. Vaccination is being taken forward as the key strategy along with epidemiological surveillance to target vaccination efforts and eradicate the disease. PPR is highly contagious and is generally spread by aerosolized droplets and close contact. Currently, two live attenuated vaccines (Nigeria 75/1 and Sungri 96) are in use, and administered subcutaneously to prevent transmission of PPR and protect vaccinated animals. Though the target cells that support primary replication of PPR vaccine strains are largely unknown, it is hypothesized that the immune response could be intensified following intranasal vaccine delivery as this route mimics the natural route of infection. This study aims to compare the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of the two currently available live attenuated PPR vaccines following subcutaneous and intranasal routes of vaccination in target species. Groups of five goats were vaccinated with live attenuated PPR vaccines (Nigeria 75/1 and Sungri 96) by either the subcutaneous or intranasal route, and 28 days later challenged intranasally with virulent PPR virus. All vaccinated animals regardless of vaccination route produced PPRV-specific antibodies post-vaccination. Following challenge, all goats were protected from clinical disease, and vaccination was considered to have induced sterilizing immunity. This study demonstrates that the intranasal route of vaccination is as effective as the subcutaneous route of vaccination when using available live attenuated PPR vaccines.

The legal protection of farmed fish in Europe – analysing the range of EU legislation and the impact of international animal welfare standards for the fishes in European aquaculture

Nowadays, fishes are one of the most exploited ‘farm’ animals. They are reared in marine and freshwater aquaculture farms, which represent one of the fastest growing food-producing industries worldwide. The numbers of fishes farmed, transported and slaughtered every year are enormous, with more than 100 billion fishes estimated to be killed per year, solely in aquaculture industries. They are kept in high densities, fattened for fast growth and slaughtered, just like in factory farming of terrestrial ‘farm’ animals. ‘Farmed’ fishes are regularly handled and transported according to their life stages between different farming systems and cages. In some cases, fishes are deprived of food up to 14 days prior to their slaughter, and commonly their killing is done either without prior stunning or using stunning methods, like CO2-stunning, causing pain and suffering. Despite the fact that a huge number of individuals is involved and that many farming practices impose pain, stress and suffering on the fishes, fish welfare only takes a back seat in public awareness. Fishes are sentient beings, and as such recognised by the EU in Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Especially taking into account that the EU has implemented a newly reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and is making great efforts to increase its aquaculture production within the next years, the present study deals with the question to what extent a ‘farmed’ fish in Europe is currently protected by EU law and if the international animal welfare standards set out by the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) are actually met.

Rickettsiales‐like organisms in bivalves and marine gastropods: a review

AbstractRickettsiales‐like organisms (RLOs) are intracellular bacteria that have been reported to be symbionts of over 60 species of bivalves and marine gastropod molluscs of aquaculture importance around the world. Morphologically, some of these prokaryotes are similar to bacteria from the order Rickettsiales, and in most cases, they form intracytoplasmic inclusions similar to those observed in bacteria of the family Anaplasmataceae. Genetically, only Candidatus Xenohaliotis californiensis (CXc), a parasite of several abalone species, has been classified as a member of the order Rickettsiales. The other two characterized RLOs are distantly related; one belongs to the same class (α‐proteobacteria), and the other belongs to the γ‐proteobacteria. Hyperparasitism of RLOs by bacteriophages has been reported in several species of mollusc and appears to have a negative effect on RLOs. The intracellular lifestyle of RLOs has been associated with cell alterations including hypertrophy and compression of the cytoplasmic organelles, and in most cases, no host reaction is observed by histology. In some cases, a high infection intensity of RLOs has been related to dysfunction of the affected organs that can result in disease, and in other cases, high burdens of RLOs have been associated with mortality, but most of these cases have yet to be confirmed. To date, only CXc has been confirmed as the aetiological agent of a chronic and potentially lethal disease of several abalone species known as withering syndrome. This disease is listed by the World Organization of Animal Health. With the ever‐increasing interest in preserving fisheries and expanding the aquaculture production of mollusc species, more efforts should be focused on the characterization and study of RLOs to elucidate the type of symbiosis they maintain with their host and determine when they are acting as true pathogens that should be subjected to control in aquaculture. This review provides an overview of the literature on RLOs that infect bivalves and gastropods of aquaculture importance, and we discuss the most important aspects of these unique prokaryotes.

Quantifying Levels of Peste Des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Virus in Excretions from Experimentally Infected Goats and Its Importance for Nascent PPR Eradication Programme.

Following the successful eradication of rinderpest, the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have set a goal to globally eradicate Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) by 2030. To support the eradication programme we have quantified the levels of PPR virus (PPRV) nucleic acid excreted in body fluids (blood, feces, saliva, nasal and eye swabs) of PPRV-infected goats to ascertain which days post-infection animals are potentially infectious, and hence direct quarantine activities. The data will also indicate optimal sample strategies to assess presence of PPR infection in the naturally infected herd. Peak PPRV nucleic acid detection in different bodily fluids was between 5 and 10 days post-infection. As such, this period must be considered the most infectious period for contact transmission, although high viral load was observed through RNA detection in nasal excretions from two days post-infection until at least two weeks post-infection. Percentage sample positivity was low both in eye swabs and saliva samples during the early stage of infection although RNA was detected as late as two weeks post-infection. From the individual animal data, PPRV was detected later post-infection in fecal material than in other body fluids and the detection was intermittent. The results from this study indicate that nasal swabs are the most appropriate to sample when considering molecular diagnosis of PPRV.

Design, statistical analysis and reporting standards for test accuracy studies for infectious diseases in animals: Progress, challenges and recommendations

The quality of diagnostic accuracy studies (DAS) for infectious diseases of animals has improved over the last 20 years because of international educational efforts, use of design and reporting standards to guide researchers and test developers, and acceptance of the use of latent class models to account for imperfect reference tests. In this review, we focus on measurement of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity as a measure of clinical validity, describe the leadership role of the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) in setting standards for test validation in the context of fitness-for-purpose, and describe how design and reporting quality have facilitated the increased use of systematic reviews and meta-analysis of DAS. Ongoing challenges for design, conduct, analysis and reporting of DAS are identified; and we make recommendations for improvements in these areas for OIE-listed and non-listed infectious diseases.

Where does the long 'journey' of the camels go?

Hardly any of us knows about sad and appalling story of camels in Egypt. Once being esteemed in Bedouin culture as the Bedouin's constant companion role of camels in Arab world has turned over centuries. Nowadays they are mainly used for sports and leisure or as 'farm' animals bred and kept for milk and meat production. Egypt is one of most important countries importing live camels. Every year hundreds of thousands of camels are imported as ‘slaughter’ animals particularly from Somalia and Sudan to provide internal Egyptian market with camel meat. These transports by road, foot or sea are extremely long and exhausting for camels, and some of them do not survive exertions. At markets they are faced with very rough and brutal handling methods. However, alarming and wide-spread animal welfare problems generated from unbearable transport and handling conditions which camels must endure on transports, markets and in slaughterhouses in Egypt are not discussed up to present day. Egypt is lacking any animal welfare legislation. Even though being member of World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE), Egypt does not comply with OIE standards on animal welfare in which also camels are included. Therefore, it is high time to put an end to extreme suffering of camels and grant them protection status they deserve.

First retrospective studies with etiological confirmation of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus infection in Argentina

BackgroundIn 2014, a notification of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) was made by the National Services of Animal Health of Argentina (SENASA) to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE). The notification was based on a serological diagnosis in a small farm with a morbidity rate of 2.3% without enteric clinical signs. In order to determine if TGEV was circulating before the official report, a retrospective study on cases of neonatal diarrhea was performed. The selection criteria was a sudden increase in mortality in 1- to 21-day-old piglets with watery diarrhea that did not respond to antibiotics. Based on these criteria, three clinical cases were identified during 2010–2015.ResultsAll animals that were evaluated presented histological lesions consistent with enteric viral infection. The feces and ultrathin sections of intestine that were evaluated by electron microscopy confirmed the presence of round particles of approximately 80 nm in size and characterized by finely granular electrodense nucleoids consistent with complete particles of coronavirus. The presence of the TGEV antigen was confirmed by monoclonal specific immunohistochemistry, and final confirmation of a metabolically-active virus was performed by in situ hybridization to detect a TGE mRNA encoding spike protein. All sections evaluated in this case were negative for PEDV and rotavirus A.ConclusionsThis is the first case series describing neonatal mortality with etiological confirmation of TGEV in Argentina. The clinical diagnosis of TGEV infections in endemic regions is challenging due to the epidemiological distribution and coinfection with other enteric pathogens that mask the clinical presentation.

Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae, the cause of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, comprises two distinct biochemical groups.

Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae, the cause of the World Organisation of Animal Health- listed contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, is a member of the Mycoplasma mycoides cluster which comprises five pathogenic mycoplasmas of ruminants. These mycoplasmas are closely related immunologically and genetically which can lead to difficulties for differential diagnosis. The patterns of substrate metabolism of strains of M. c. capripneumoniae, gathered from diverse geographic regions, were studied by measurement of oxygen uptake rates. The strains fell into two major biochemical groups: one which only oxidised organic acids and glycerol and the other which could additionally metabolise sugars. Furthermore when DNA-DNA hybridisation tests were carried out these two groups of strains could be separated by their degree of DNA homology, the mean hybridisation value between members of the two groups was 86% well above the value of 70% normally used to indicate separate species. DNA-DNA hybridisation was also carried out between M. c. capripneumoniae strains and other members of the M. mycoides cluster. These experiments used labelled DNA from two representative subsp. capripneumoniae strains; these were 7/1a (organic acid-oxidising) and 4/2 LC (glucose-oxidising). The results showed a particularly close relationship of the glucose-oxidising strain to M leachii strains.

First case-control study of zoonotic brucellosis in Gafsa district, Southwest Tunisia

A case-control study was conducted, aimed to describe the clinical human brucellosis (CHB) pattern during 2015 in the Gafsa region (Southwest Tunisia) and to investigate the main risk factors involved in the disease occurrence. One hundred and four CHB cases were notified in 2015 in Gafsa district. All CHB cases that own ruminants were contacted, but only 32 accepted to participate in a matched case-control study. Thirty-two and thirty-one CHB cases and controls, respectively, were included in the study. The subjects were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. A total of 662 domestic ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) belonging to cases and controls, were screened using the Rose Bengal Test, as recommended by the World Organisation of Animal Health. During 2015, the incidence of CHB was estimated to 30.8 per 100,000 inhabitants affecting mainly males aged between 30 and 39years. The overall animal seropositivity to Brucella, was 21 and 1.9% in case and control farms, respectively (p<0.0001). Only five risk factors were found to be significant: overall animal seropositivity (OR=65.2; 95%CI: 13.3–318.7); handling aborted females (OR=43.1; 95%CI: 8.3–222.7); presence of male ruminants in the herds (OR=18.5; 95%CI: 5.18–66); owning seropositive goats (OR=18.3; 95%CI: 2.4–137.6), owning seropositive sheep (OR=9.66; 95%CI: 2.9–31.5) and history of abortion during the previous year in the herd (OR=4.6; 95%CI: 1.3–12.6). Vaccination of animals against brucellosis was associated with lower odds of human brucellosis (OR=0.03; 95%CI: 0.004–0.2). Raw milk and derivatives consumption was not a risk factor of human brucellosis. Based on this study, ruminants' vaccination coverage should be increased by enhancing the number of vaccinated animals and systematically including male ruminants in Tunisia. Comprehensive education programmes targeting both farmers and general population should be implemented.

Susceptibility of Representative Great Lakes Fish Species to the North Carolina Strain of Spring Viremia of Carp Virus (SVCV).

Spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) is a notifiable pathogen of the World Organization of Animal Health. Since SVCV was isolated in Lake Ontario in 2007, concern has grown about its spread in the Great Lakes basin and its potential negative impacts on fish species of importance in stock enhancement programs basinwide. The susceptibility of representative fish species from the families Cyprinidae (Fathead Minnow Pimephales promelas, Golden Shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas, Spotfin Shiner Cyprinella spiloptera, and Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculatus), Centrarchidae (Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides), Percidae (Walleye Sander vitreus), Salmonidae (Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Esocidae (Muskellunge Esox masquinongy) to SVCV was evaluated by experimental infection under laboratory conditions. Morbidity and mortality were recorded, and virus re-isolation, seminested reverse transcription PCR, and histopathological assessments were performed. Using intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection, Fathead Minnows and Golden Shiners were highly susceptible to SVCV (40-70% mortality). All dead or moribund and apparently healthy surviving Fathead Minnows and Golden Shiners were SVCV positive. The SVCV was also detected in challenged but healthy Spotfin Shiners (30%) and Creek Chub (5%). However, noncyprinid species exhibited no morbidity or mortality and were free of SVCV following an observation period of 30 d. In a follow-up experimental challenge, Fathead Minnows and Golden Shiners were SVCV challenged at 103 and 105 PFU/mL by means of waterborne immersion. After immersion, Fathead Minnows and Golden Shiners exhibited characteristic SVCV disease signs, but mortality was less (30% and 10% mortality, respectively) than that in fish with i.p. injections. The SVCV was detected in all mortalities and a subset of healthy Fathead Minnows and Golden Shiners. Necrotic changes were observed in the kidneys, liver, spleen, ovaries, and heart, and other histopathological lesions also occurred. These findings suggest that two of the four cyprinids tested are susceptible to SVCV-induced disease and that all four can act as potential carriers of SVCV in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Received January 11, 2017; accepted July 17, 2017.

Biocontrol of common carp in Australia poses risks to biosecurity.

The Australian government is considering employing the koi herpesvirus (KHV) for biocontrol of invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in the Murray–Darling river system of southeast Australia in 20181,2. KHV is on the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) list of notifiable diseases3, yet the biocontrol programme has been framed as a safe and manageable proposition1,2. Previous reports highlight that viruses have been successfully employed in the biocontrol of terrestrial vertebrates1, including cats on Marion Island, and feral rabbits in Australia and New Zealand. However, compared with the biocontrol of terrestrial vertebrates, the biocontrol of large, highly fecund aquatic animals such as carp adds novel risks.

Structural Protein VP2 of African Horse Sickness Virus Is Not Essential for Virus Replication In Vitro.

Members of the Reoviridae family cause major health problems worldwide, ranging from lethal diarrhea caused by rotavirus in humans to economic losses in livestock production caused by different orbiviruses. The Orbivirus genus contains many virus species, of which bluetongue virus, epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus, and African horse sickness virus (AHSV) cause notifiable diseases according to the World Organization of Animal Health. Recently, it has been shown that nonstructural proteins NS3/NS3a and NS4 are not essential for virus replication in vitro, whereas it is generally assumed that structural proteins VP1 to -7 of these nonenveloped, architecturally complex virus particles are essential. Here we demonstrate for the first time that structural protein VP2 of AHSV is not essential for virus replication in vitro Our findings are very important for virologists working in the field of nonenveloped viruses, in particular reoviruses.

Antimicrobial Susceptibilities of Flavobacterium psychrophilum Isolates from the Great Lakes Basin, Michigan.

Flavobacterium psychrophilum is a serious pathogen of salmonids worldwide, a matter that is compounded by the lack of effective vaccine preparations. As a result, biosecurity measures and antimicrobial agents remain the only available methods to control diseases caused by F. psychrophilum. It is feared that antimicrobial use may have led to the development of F. psychrophilum strains with reduced susceptibility. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of 50 F. psychrophilum isolates from Michigan in response to 10 antimicrobial compounds. As recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute and the World Organization of Animal Health, a standardized microdilution broth assay was employed to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for ampicillin (AMP), gentamicin (GEN), enrofloxacin (ENRO), oxolinic acid (OXO), flumequine (FLUQ), trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (SXT), ormetoprim-sulphadimethoxine (PRI), erythromycin (ERY), florfenicol (FFN), and oxytetracycline (OXY). Epidemiological cutoff values were calculated using the normalized resistance interpretation (CONRI) and the ECOFFinder analysis methods (COECOFF). The MIC distributions in response to OXY exhibited bimodality, indicating the presence of isolates with reduced susceptibility in addition to the wild-type isolates. The OXY epidemiological cutoff values (COECOFF <0.06 μg/ml; CONRI <0.12 μg/ml) demonstrated that 24% of Michigan isolates exhibited reduced susceptibility to this commonly used drug. No other antimicrobial exhibited a bimodal distribution of MICs. This study represents the first antimicrobial susceptibility assessment of F. psychrophilum strains recovered from Michigan and contributes valuable data to the worldwide validation efforts to determine universal epidemiological cutoff values of this deadly fish pathogen.

Complete Genome Sequence of a Burkholderia mallei Isolate Originating from a Glanderous Horse from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Burkholderia mallei is a zoonotic agent causing glanders, a notifiable disease in equines. During the past decades glanders emerged, and the Kingdom of Bahrain reported outbreaks to the World Organization of Animal Health in 2010 and 2011. This paper presents the complete genome sequence of the Burkholderia mallei strain 11RR2811 Bahrain1.

Equine Infectious Anemia diagnosis in a 3 months old foal

within the insect, the infectious virus can remain in its mouthparts for several hours after a bite. Several studies have shown that EIAV infection has occurred among horses in North and South America, France, Germany, Italy and Romania. So far no evidence of the presence of EIAV in horses was reported in Serbia. In order to determine EIA prevalence among the 5000 horses of the Vojvodina region of Serbia, 316 horse sera have been collected during 2013 and 2014. Serological analysis was performed using Agar Gel Immuno Diffusion test (AGID) as described by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) chapter 2.5.6 and by Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA). Those sera have been tested with 3 different commercial AGID test (Idexx, ID-Vet and VMRD) and two different commercial ELISA tests (Synbiotics and VMRD). With the three AGID kit 311 (98,4%) among the 316 tested sera were found negative and only five (1,6%) sera were found positive for EIA. With ELISA kits results were slightly different and were dependent of the kit producer. Indeed, Synbiotics ELISA gave the same results as AGID tests but VMRD ELISA found 295 negative samples, 5 positive samples and 16 samples were doubtfull. Our study shows for the first time that EIA is present in Serbia and more specifically in the Vojvodina region. Euthanasia and viral characterization of field isolate collected in Serbian horses will be investigated.

Analysis of the large intestinal and faecal microbiota of horses with grass sickness using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

within the insect, the infectious virus can remain in its mouthparts for several hours after a bite. Several studies have shown that EIAV infection has occurred among horses in North and South America, France, Germany, Italy and Romania. So far no evidence of the presence of EIAV in horses was reported in Serbia. In order to determine EIA prevalence among the 5000 horses of the Vojvodina region of Serbia, 316 horse sera have been collected during 2013 and 2014. Serological analysis was performed using Agar Gel Immuno Diffusion test (AGID) as described by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) chapter 2.5.6 and by Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA). Those sera have been tested with 3 different commercial AGID test (Idexx, ID-Vet and VMRD) and two different commercial ELISA tests (Synbiotics and VMRD). With the three AGID kit 311 (98,4%) among the 316 tested sera were found negative and only five (1,6%) sera were found positive for EIA. With ELISA kits results were slightly different and were dependent of the kit producer. Indeed, Synbiotics ELISA gave the same results as AGID tests but VMRD ELISA found 295 negative samples, 5 positive samples and 16 samples were doubtfull. Our study shows for the first time that EIA is present in Serbia and more specifically in the Vojvodina region. Euthanasia and viral characterization of field isolate collected in Serbian horses will be investigated.

Evidence of Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA) infection in horses of Serbia

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the causative agent of equine viral arteritis (EVA) and one of the major viral pathogens of horses. EAV is an Arterivirus belonging to the Arteriviridae family in the order Nidovirales. EVA is a respiratory and reproductive disease of horses that occurs worldwide. The vast majority of EAV infections are subclinical, but acutely infected animals may develop a wide range of clinical signs including pyrexia, depression, edema, conjunctivitis and respiratory distress. The direct consequences of EVA outbreaks are financial losses mainly due to abortions of pregnant mares and death of young foals. Following primary EAV infection, up to 70% of the stallions will carry the virus in their reproductive tract sometimes for years and will shed the virus in their semen. Several studies have shown that EAV infection has occurred among horses in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. Interestingly, EAV infection prevalence in horses varies between countries and horse breeds. In order to determine equine viral arteritis (EVA) prevalence among the 5000 horses housed in the Vojvodina region of Serbia, 429 sera from non-vaccinated horses have been collected. Serological analysis of equine sera, collected from 2013 and 2014, was performed using virus neutralization test (VNT) as described by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE). So far sera of 156 horses coming from 10 different stud-farms of the Vojvodina region have been tested. The population tested was composed 86 stallions, aged between 1 and 26 year old, and 70 mares ranged from 1 year old to 23 year old. The mean age of the population tested was 9,9 year old. Our preliminary results indicated that 121 sera were negative (77,60%), thirty three were detected positive (21,15%), two sera were cytotoxic (1,25%). Among the positive sera fifteen (45,45%) exhibit an antibody titer range from 4 to 16, ten ( 30,30%) sera exhibited a titer ranged from 24 to 96 and eight (24,24%) sera had a titer above 128. Moreover, 9 out of 10 stud farms that have been included in this survey exhibited positive horses for EAV showing that EAV is circulating in the horse population kept in the Vojvodina region. So far, only one seropositive stallion has been found positive for the presence of the virus in his semen. Phylogenetic analysis performed on the 3 kb sequence encoding the structural proteins of the virus shows that this isolate seems different from those described in the literature so far.

Climate Change Influences on the Global Potential Distribution of Bluetongue Virus.

The geographic distribution of arboviruses has received considerable attention after several dramatic emergence events around the world. Bluetongue virus (BTV) is classified among category “A” diseases notifiable to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE), and is transmitted among ruminants by biting midges of the genus Culicoides. Here, we developed a comprehensive occurrence data set to map the current distribution, estimate the ecological niche, and explore the future potential distribution of BTV globally using ecological niche modeling and based on diverse future climate scenarios from general circulation models (GCMs) for four representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The broad ecological niche and potential geographic distribution of BTV under present-day conditions reflected the disease’s current distribution across the world in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions. All model predictions were significantly better than random expectations. As a further evaluation of model robustness, we compared our model predictions to 331 independent records from most recent outbreaks from the Food and Agriculture Organization Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases Information System (EMPRES-i); all were successfully anticipated by the BTV model. Finally, we tested ecological niche similarity among possible vectors and BTV, and could not reject hypotheses of niche similarity. Under future-climate conditions, the potential distribution of BTV was predicted to broaden, especially in central Africa, United States, and western Russia.

Occurrence of multiple abortions due to Salmonella enterica serovar abortus equi infection

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the causative agent of equine viral arteritis (EVA) and one of the major viral pathogens of horses. EAV is an Arterivirus belonging to the Arteriviridae family in the order Nidovirales. EVA is a respiratory and reproductive disease of horses that occurs worldwide. The vast majority of EAV infections are subclinical, but acutely infected animals may develop a wide range of clinical signs including pyrexia, depression, edema, conjunctivitis and respiratory distress. The direct consequences of EVA outbreaks are financial losses mainly due to abortions of pregnant mares and death of young foals. Following primary EAV infection, up to 70% of the stallions will carry the virus in their reproductive tract sometimes for years and will shed the virus in their semen. Several studies have shown that EAV infection has occurred among horses in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. Interestingly, EAV infection prevalence in horses varies between countries and horse breeds. In order to determine equine viral arteritis (EVA) prevalence among the 5000 horses housed in the Vojvodina region of Serbia, 429 sera from non-vaccinated horses have been collected. Serological analysis of equine sera, collected from 2013 and 2014, was performed using virus neutralization test (VNT) as described by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE). So far sera of 156 horses coming from 10 different stud-farms of the Vojvodina region have been tested. The population tested was composed 86 stallions, aged between 1 and 26 year old, and 70 mares ranged from 1 year old to 23 year old. The mean age of the population tested was 9,9 year old. Our preliminary results indicated that 121 sera were negative (77,60%), thirty three were detected positive (21,15%), two sera were cytotoxic (1,25%). Among the positive sera fifteen (45,45%) exhibit an antibody titer range from 4 to 16, ten ( 30,30%) sera exhibited a titer ranged from 24 to 96 and eight (24,24%) sera had a titer above 128. Moreover, 9 out of 10 stud farms that have been included in this survey exhibited positive horses for EAV showing that EAV is circulating in the horse population kept in the Vojvodina region. So far, only one seropositive stallion has been found positive for the presence of the virus in his semen. Phylogenetic analysis performed on the 3 kb sequence encoding the structural proteins of the virus shows that this isolate seems different from those described in the literature so far.