Publications by authors named "Vahlenkamp T"

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes high economical costs due to reduced productivity and losses in pig production. The virus can infect sow herds through various routes. One possible risk factor is the transmission of PRRSV through artificial insemination with infected boar semen.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Usutu virus (USUV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are zoonotic arthropod-borne orthoflaviviruses. The enzootic transmission cycles of both include mosquitoes as vectors and birds as amplifying hosts. For more than 10 years, these viruses have been monitored in birds in Germany by a multidisciplinary network.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Game meat is an important source of meat borne parasitic infections. Due to its omnivorous diet, the wild boar is an important host of zoonotic parasites such as . can cause severe to fatal disease in immunosuppressed patients, as well as congenital disorders in foetus and neonates.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Domestic cats are the natural host of feline morbilliviruses (FeMV). Although other species can also be infected (such as dogs and opossums), no laboratory animal infection model is established so far. In vitro models for studying the molecular pathogenesis are therefore needed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Borna disease (BD) associated with a peracute bacterial septicaemia with Escherichia coli was diagnosed in an adult female, naturally infected, free-ranging Eurasian beaver of the subspecies Castor fiber albicus, clinically characterized by weight loss, depression, weakness and gurgled peristaltic sounds. The beaver was euthanized humanely. Necropsy and light microscopy revealed a non-purulent meningoencephalitis with typical mononuclear perivascular cuffs and parenchymal infiltrates.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Since 2018, autochthonous West Nile virus (WNV) infections have been regularly reported in eastern-central Germany. While clinically apparent infections in humans and horses are not frequent, seroprevalence studies in horses may allow the tracing of WNV and related flaviviruses transmission, such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Usutu virus (USUV), and consequently help to estimate the risk of human infections. Hence, the aim of our study was to follow the seropositive ratio against these three viruses in horses in Saxony, Saxony Anhalt, and Brandenburg and to describe their geographic distribution for the year 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A recent study revealed that organically raised Bronze turkeys showed a high prevalence of green liver discoloration. This alteration is commonly associated with the Turkey Osteomyelitis Complex and potentially caused by opportunistic bacteria. Therefore, 360 organically fattened Bronze turkeys were examined post-mortem throughout two fattening trials with two examinations each to determine possible infectious risk factors and reduce disease prevalence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose And Aim: The presenting complaints, clinical signs, diagnostic evaluation, therapy, and outcome of 12 horses with clinically apparent West-Nile-Virus (WNV) infection are described.

Material And Methods: Case series RESULTS: The adult horses (age 6-18 years, 7 mares, 5 geldings) from Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt were presented with various clinical histories between September 2018 and September 2020. All horses were presented in August or September and no horse was vaccinated against WNV.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Xanthogranulomatosis is a common dermatological disease in birds. This form of inflammation, possibly associated with lipometabolic disorders, can also be seen in visceral organs, which as yet has only rarely been described in avian medicine. In general, diseases related to impaired lipid metabolism are frequently reported in avian medicine, with hepatic steatosis and atherosclerosis being the most common.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging mosquito-borne arbovirus within the genus Flavivirus, family . Similar to the closely related West Nile virus (WNV), USUV infections are capable of causing mass mortality in wild and captive birds, especially blackbirds. In the last few years, a massive spread of USUV was present in the avian population of Germany and other European countries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Feline morbillivirus (FeMV) is a recently discovered virus belonging to the genus of the virus family . Often, the virus has been detected in urine of cats with a history of urinary disease and has a worldwide distribution. Currently, it is unclear which receptor the virus uses to enter the target cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • West Nile virus (WNV) was first identified in horses in Germany in 2018, prompting a study to assess its spread and impact on horse populations, aiming to inform veterinary and public health authorities.
  • The study involved testing 940 horse serum samples from Eastern Germany, revealing an average WNV seroprevalence of 5.8%, particularly higher in counties with previous WNV cases.
  • Key risk factors for WNV seropositivity included breed type (ponies), living in areas with past infections, housing conditions, and having outdoor shelters for the horses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are important flaviviruses circulating in Germany. While USUV was first reported more than 10 years ago, WNV has only reached the country in 2018. Wild birds are important amplifying hosts for both viruses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Feedgrain contamination with mycotoxins, including deoxynivalenol (DON, "vomitoxin") is relatively frequently encountered. Pigs are particularly sensitive to the toxicity of DON. To assess the interplay between DON and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), we performed an experimental DON exposure-PRRSV vaccination-challenge infection trial.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The current prevalence of avian leukosis virus (ALV) in fancy chickens in Germany is unknown. Therefore, 537 cloacal swabs from 50 purebred fancy-chicken flocks in Saxony were tested for the presence of the ALV p27 protein using a commercial antigen-capture ELISA. The detection rate was 28.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The mosquito-borne Usutu virus (USUV) is a zoonotic flavivirus and an emerging pathogen. So far therapeutical options or vaccines are not available in human and veterinary medicine. The bioenergetic profile based on extracellular flux analysis revealed an USUV infection-associated significant increase in basal and stressed glycolysis on Vero and with a tendency for basal glycolysis on the avian cell line TME-R derived from Eurasian blackbirds.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Previous studies reported on the broad-spectrum antiviral function of heparin. Here we investigated the antiviral function of magnesium-modified heparin and found that modified heparin displayed a significantly enhanced antiviral function against human adenovirus (HAdV) in immortalized and primary cells. Nuclear magnetic resonance analyses revealed a conformational change of heparin when complexed with magnesium.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The mosquito-borne flavivirus Usutu virus (USUV) is responsible for countless deaths in both resident populations and birds kept in outdoor aviaries. Since 2001, USUV outbreaks have attracted increased attention due to the rapid geographical spread of the virus and its close relationship to West Nile virus (WNV), an emerging pathogen in humans and animals. Similar to WNV, the USUV enzootic transmission cycle predominantly involves spp.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Measles virus (MV) can cause severe acute diseases as well as long-lasting clinical deteriorations due to viral-induced immunosuppression and neuronal manifestation. How the virus enters the brain and manages to persist in neuronal tissue is not fully understood. Various mutations in the viral genes were found in MV strains isolated from patient brains.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Feline morbilliviruses (FeMV) are fairly newly discovered paramyxoviruses found in cats. The first description indicated an association with widely distributed chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the host species. In various studies, a global prevalence and a further genotype, designated FeMV-2, and the involvement of other organ systems in infected individuals were shown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The family of paramyxoviruses has received growing attention as several new species have been identified recently, notably two different clusters in domestic cats, designated as feline morbillivirus (FeMV) and feline paramyxovirus (FPaV). Their phylogenetic origin and whether wild felids also harbor these viruses are currently unknown. Kidney samples from 35 guignas (), a wild felid from Chile, were investigated for paramyxoviruses using consensus-RT-PCR.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Feline morbillivirus infections have gained increased attention due to repeated reports of their association with urinary tract disease in cats. In the present study, 112 serum samples from free-roaming domestic cats in Chile were tested for antibodies against feline morbillivirus genotypes 1 and 2 (FeMV-1 and FeMV-2) using an indirect immunofluorescence assay. In total, 63% of the animals showed antibodies against one or both FeMV genotypes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A total of 289 cloacal swabs from pigeons from 29 different breeders in Germany were collected. In addition, samples from pigeons exhibited at shows were collected. The detailed health status of the pigeon flocks was recorded.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Low pathogenic avian influenza H9N2 is still circulating in the Middle East causing respiratory manifestations and severe economic losses in poultry. In the present study, an H9 plasmid-based DNA vaccine targeting the HA gene of H9N2 A/CK/Egypt/SCU8/2014 was developed and evaluated in turkeys. The full length of HA was cloned into vector plasmids under the control of a cytomegalovirus promoter.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: is a major porcine pathogen causing high morbidity worldwide. This includes well-managed herds with high hygiene standards. In Europe, no licensed vaccine is available.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF