[Diagnosis of bovine viral respiratory diseases].

Enzootic bronchopneumonia (EBP) is an infectious, multifactorial respiratory disease of cattle. Different viruses may be involved in its pathogenesis. In this study an adapted method of endoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of caudal parts of the right cranial lung lobe was established and evaluated.

Phylogenetic analysis of Austrian canine distemper virus strains from clinical samples from dogs and wild carnivores.

Austrian field cases of canine distemper (14 dogs, one badger [Meles meles] and one stone marten [Martes foina]) from 2002 to 2007 were investigated and the case histories were summarised briefly. Phylogenetic analysis of fusion (F) and haemagglutinin (H) gene sequences revealed different canine distemper virus (CDV) lineages circulating in Austria. The majority of CDV strains detected from 2002 to 2004 were well embedded in the European lineage.

Pestivirus infection in sheep and goats in West Austria.

Blood samples from 3112 sheep (185 flocks) and 1196 goats (163 flocks) from the Western region of Austria were tested for pestivirus-specific RNA. In this area, communal Alpine pasturing of sheep, cattle and goats is an important part of farming. The prevalence of sheep persistently-infected (PI) with pestivirus was 0.

Investigation of the role of Austrian ruminant wildlife in the epidemiology of malignant catarrhal fever viruses.

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is an ubiquitous disease of cattle and other ruminants caused by Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2), which is endemic in sheep and transmitted from healthy carriers. Further viruses of the MCF group are also able to induce MCF in ruminants. As alpine pasturing is very common in Austria, possible contact with ruminant wildlife carrying and excreting MCF viruses might be suspected as an infection source.

Evaluation of rapid assays for the detection of bovine coronavirus, rotavirus A and Cryptosporidium parvum in faecal samples of calves.

Rapid immunochromatographic assays for detecting infections with bovine coronavirus (BCV), rotavirus A and Cryptosporidium parvum in calf faeces were evaluated using as gold standards a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (BCV and rotavirus) and a sedimentation-flotation technique (C. parvum). Rapid tests for the detection of BCV and rotavirus showed a high specificity (96.