Publications by authors named "G Balka"

Background/objectives: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for alternative prophylactic measures, particularly for populations for whom vaccines may not be effective or accessible. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of intranasally administered IgY antibodies derived from hen egg yolks as a protective agent against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Syrian golden hamsters, a well-established animal model for COVID-19.

Methods: Hens were immunized with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to generate IgY antibodies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Porcine parvovirus 8 (PPV8), a novel virus in the family, was first identified in 2022 in lung samples of domestic pigs from China. Retrospective analyses showed that it had been circulating in China since 1998, but no other countries had reported its presence so far. A recent study conducted in South America did not detect any PPV8-positive samples in that region.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Swine viral diseases have the capacity to cause significant losses and affect the sector's sustainability, a situation further exacerbated by the lack of antiviral drugs and the limited availability of effective vaccines. In this context, a novel point-of-care (POC) diagnostic device incorporating photonic integrated circuits (PICs), microfluidics and information, and communication technology into a single platform was developed for the field diagnosis of African swine fever (ASF) and classical swine fever (CSF). The device targets viral particles and has been validated using oral fluid and serum samples.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The eradication program requires all pig farms in affected regions to adopt biosecurity measures and develop tailored eradication plans, with veterinary authorities overseeing the process in conjunction with industry organizations and scientific committees.
  • * As a result of these efforts, large-scale fattening farms in Hungary achieved PRRSV-free status by the end of 2018, while small-scale herds reached the same status by the end of 2015; continued monitoring has been essential to maintain this success through 2021.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fungal infections of animals could yield significant economic losses, especially in the poultry industry, due to their adverse effects on growth, feed intake, digestion, and reproduction. Previous investigations showed that plays the main etiological role in the esophageal mycosis of birds. In this study, we used multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to determine the population structure and molecular epidemiology of isolated from geese and ducks in Hungary.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF