Isolation of "exotic" Bhanja virus (Bunyaviridae) from ticks in the temperate zone.

One strain of Bhanja virus was isolated from Dermacentor marginatus male ticks collected from sheep in Slovak Karst, eastern Czechoslovakia (48 degrees 31'N, 20 degrees 28'E). In addition, three strains of Brezová virus (subtype of Tribec orbivirus, Reoviridae) were isolated from Ixodes ricinus ticks. The result represents the northernmost isolation of Bhanja virus and, moreover, its first recovery from D.

Arbovirological survey in Silica plateau area, Roznava District, Czechoslovakia.

The serosurveys conducted in the Silica plateau area of the Slovak karst region revealed the presence of specific neutralizing antibody against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus in 18% of local inhabitants (33 examined, mostly goats and sheep farmers), 54% of goats (26 examined), 18% of sheep (120 examined) and 13% of cattle (60 examined), against Lipovník (LIP) virus in 30% of inhabitants, 88% of goats, 55% of sheep and 45% of cattle, and against Bhanja (BHA) virus in 27% of inhabitants, 46% of goats, 29% of sheep and 23% of cattle. The results of hemagglutination-inhibition tests with TBE and BHA antigens were analogous. A detailed analysis of these serologic data points to a recent enhancement of the circulation of LIP and BHA viruses and to a very low TBE virus activity in this natural focus of arboviral infections.

Detection of human Bhanja virus-specific antibodies in Czechoslovakia.

Blood sera from 185 Czechoslovak citizens, residents of South-Moravia (Znojmo district: 107, Breclav district: 13) and East-Slovakia (Roznava district: 65) regions, were examined for the presence of neutralizing antibodies to Bhanja arbovirus, using PS and Vero cell lines, constant dose of virus and serial serum dilutions. Specific antibody titres greater than or equal to 1:10 were detected in the sera of 10 persons (i.e.

The use of mebendazole in the treatment of trichinellosis in man.

A description is given of an epidemic of trichinellosis in the districts of Kosice and Roznava, Slovakia. the confirmed cause of the epidemic was the consumption of wild hog meat which had escaped a veterinary meat inspection. The course of infection was apparent in 10 patients, inapparent in 16.

First report of an infection with Rickettsia slovaca.

A description was given of an infection with Rickettsia slovaca following a tick bite. The clinical picture was that of an acute meningoencephalitis. Its etiology was confirmed serologically by an increase in complement-fixating antibodies, from negative values to diagnostically significant titers.

[Brill's Disease in Eastern Slovakia (author's transl)].

A report is presented on the epidemiological, clinical and serological findings obtained in 37 patients in the southern part of Eastern Slovakia who were diagnosed as having Brill's disease. All patients presented with a recurrence of classical louse-borne typhus; in no case did the disease occur for the first time. It is recommended that all patients with a febrile illness of uncertain aetiology be subjected to a routine serological examination for louse-borne typhus in epidemic areas.