Hugh Watt Reid.

A scholar with an ever-inquiring mind, he was recognised internationally as an outstanding scientist.

Prevalence of antibodies to bovine viral diarrhoea virus in bulk tank milk and associated risk factors in Scottish dairy herds.

Bulk tank milk samples were collected from 374 dairy farms in Scotland in 2007/2008 along with questionnaire data relating to the management of the farm. Milk samples were tested for antibodies to bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) using a commercially available (Svanova) kit and percentage positivity scores calculated according to the manufacturer's guidelines. There were 220 farms that did not routinely vaccinate for bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD), and these were distributed according to the Swedish BVD eradication classes as 12.

Complete genomic sequence of a border disease virus isolated from Pyrenean chamois.

This report describes the full-length genome sequence of the pestivirus strain H2121 which was recently isolated from Pyrenean chamois and typed as Border disease virus (BDV) genotype 4. Comparison with full-length genomic sequences of the approved pestivirus species Bovine viral diarrhea virus-1 (BVDV-1), BVDV-2, BDV, and Classical swine fever virus, the tentative species represented by strain Giraffe-1, as well as the atypical pestivirus strain Th/04_KhonKaen confirmed that the chamois pestivirus strain is most similar to BDV. The viral genome of H2121 is 12,305 nucleotides long and contains one large open reading frame.

Epidemiology of squirrelpox virus in grey squirrels in the UK.

The dramatic decline of the native red squirrel in the UK has been attributed to both direct and disease-mediated competition with the grey squirrel where the competitor acts as a reservoir host of squirrelpox virus (SQPV). SQPV is threatening red squirrel conservation efforts, yet little is known about its epidemiology. We analysed seroprevalence of antibody against SQPV in grey squirrels from northern England and the Scottish Borders in relation to season, weather, sex, and body weight using Generalized Linear Models in conjunction with Structural Equation Modelling.