Avipoxvirus infection in a collection of captive stone curlews (Burhinus oedicnemus).

A natural outbreak of avipoxvirus occurred in recently purchased stone curlews (Burhinus oedicnemus) at a breeding farm and subsequently spread to other stone curlews residing at the farm. The initial outbreak was characterized by mild vesicular skin lesions on the legs, which then developed crusts and bled. The overall morbidity rate was 100%, but none of the birds died, and all recovered without complication.

[The prevalence of Yersinia-specific antibodies in cattle in Bavaria].

Yersiniosis is considered to be an emerging infection in humans. It is believed that contaminated pork is the main source of infection for man but also beef and cow milk might cause infection in the consumer. Therefore, a survey was carried out to obtain actual data on the prevalence of anti-Yersinia antibodies within cattle.

[BHV-1 eradication program in Bavaria: a marker-independent strategy].

In Bavaria a BHV-1 eradication program was initiated in 1986 and was changed to a compulsory program in 1998. The eradication success increased progressively from < 50% in 1986 to 87% of the farms in 2002. BHV 1-free farms are controlled by bulk milk serology twice a year along with blood serology in animals that are negative but from herds where positive field virus infected animals are present.

[Comparative studies with three different bovine blood sample BHV-1 ELISA tests: indirect ELISA and bG-blocking-ELISA].

A total of 2754 bovine blood samples were examined for BHV1 antibodies in three different BHV-1 ELISA tests. The tests used were the CHEKIT Trachitest 2nd. Gen.

Laboratory acquired infection with recombinant vaccinia virus containing an immunomodulating construct.

Handling of Vaccinia virus represents a risk for laboratory-acquired infections, especially in individuals without completed vaccination. We report the case of a Vaccinia infection in a previously vaccinated researcher working with various genetically modified strains. We could confirm the infection by electron microscopy, positive cell culture, virus-specific PCR, sequence analysis, and viral neutralization test.