Epidemiology and eradication of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis/infectious pustular vulvovaginitis (IBR/IPV) virus in Finland.

Background: Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis/infectious pustular vulvovaginitis (IBR/IPV) is a significant disease among domestic and wild cattle. The BHV-1 infection was first detected in Finland in 1970; presumably it was imported in 1968. The infection reappeared in the large-scale bulk-tank milk surveillances which started in 1990, and was eradicated in 1994.

Serologic survey for selected virus infections in polar bears at Svalbard.

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were chemically immobilized and sampled at Svalbard, Norway, and on the pack ice in the Barents Sea from late March to mid-May between 1990 and 1998. Plasma samples were tested for the presence of antibodies to canine distemper virus (CDV), calicivirus, phocid herpesvirus type 1 (PhHV-1), and rabies virus. A seroprevalence of 8% to CDV and 2% to calicivirus were found, whereas no antibodies were detected against PhHV-1 or rabies virus.

Recent isolates of parapoxvirus of Finnish reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) are closely related to bovine pseudocowpox virus.

Cases of papular stomatitis in Finnish reindeer have been reported for many years. The causative agent was thought to be Orf virus (ORFV), one of the Parapoxviridae, although this assumption was based mainly on clinical symptoms, pathology and electron microscopy. Here sequence analyses of the viral DNA isolated from a recent outbreak of disease in 1999-2000 are presented in comparison to that isolated from earlier outbreaks in 1992-1994.