A quantitative-PCR based method to estimate ranavirus viral load following normalisation by reference to an ultraconserved vertebrate target.

Ranaviruses are important pathogens of amphibians, reptiles and fish. To meet the need for an analytical method for generating normalised and comparable infection data for these diverse host species, two standard-curve based quantitative-PCR (qPCR) assays were developed enabling viral load estimation across these host groups. A viral qPCR targeting the major capsid protein (MCP) gene was developed which was specific to amphibian-associated ranaviruses with high analytical sensitivity (lower limit of detection: 4.

Emerging fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in wild European snakes.

Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of conservation concern in eastern North America. Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, the causative agent of SFD, has been isolated from over 30 species of wild snakes from six families in North America. Whilst O.

Detection of the European epidemic strain of Trichomonas gallinae in finches, but not other non-columbiformes, in the absence of macroscopic disease.

Finch trichomonosis is an emerging infectious disease affecting European passerines caused by a clonal strain of Trichomonas gallinae. Migrating chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) were proposed as the likely vector of parasite spread from Great Britain to Fennoscandia. To test for such parasite carriage, we screened samples of oesophagus/crop from 275 Apodiform, Passeriform and Piciform birds (40 species) which had no macroscopic evidence of trichomonosis (i.

The finch epidemic strain of Trichomonas gallinae is predominant in British non-passerines.

Avian trichomonosis, caused by the flagellated protozoan Trichomonas gallinae, is a recently emerged infectious disease of British passerines. The aetiological agent, a clonal epidemic strain of the parasite, has caused unprecedented finch mortality and population-level declines in Britain and has since spread to continental Europe. To better understand the potential origin of this epidemic and to further investigate its host range, T.

Emergence of a novel avian pox disease in British tit species.

Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection.

2009 influenza A(H1N1) seroconversion rates and risk factors among distinct adult cohorts in Singapore.

Context: Singapore experienced a single epidemic wave of 2009 influenza A(H1N1) with epidemic activity starting in late June 2009 and peaking in early August before subsiding within a month.

Objective: To compare the risk and factors associated with H1N1 seroconversion in different adult cohorts.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A study with serial serological samples from 4 distinct cohorts: general population (n = 838), military personnel (n = 1213), staff from an acute care hospital (n = 558), and staff as well as residents from long-term care facilities (n = 300) from June 22, 2009, to October 15, 2009.

Circulation and antigenic drift in human influenza B viruses in SE Asia and Oceania since 2000.

During annual influenza epidemics, influenza B viruses frequently co-circulate with influenza A viruses and in some years, such as 2005, large outbreaks have occurred while in other years, the virus virtually disappears. Since 1987 there have been two lineages of influenza B viruses co-circulating in various countries and causing disease in humans. The proportions of these two lineages vary from year to year and country to country.