A research project is underway aiming to develop a field diagnostic tool for six important viruses of the pig sector, namely: African swine fever virus (ASFV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), swine influenza virus (SIV), porcine parvovirus (PPV), porcine circovirus (PCV2), and classical swine fever virus (CSFV). To obtain a preliminary sounding of the interest in this type of instrument among its potential operators, a questionnaire was drawn up and submitted to three categories of stakeholders: farmers, veterinarians, and others (including scientific and technical staff working on animal farms). Four countries participated: Italy, Greece, Hungary, and Poland. In total, 83 replies were collected and analysed in a breakdown by stakeholder type and pertinence, where the areas were the importance of the main diseases within the different countries, diagnostic tool operational issues, and economic issues. The main end-users of this kind of instrument are expected to be private veterinarians and pig producers. The infectious agents seeming to be most interesting to diagnose with the instrument are PRRSV, SIV, PPV, and PCV2. The most decisive parameters which have been selected by the stakeholders are sensitivity, cost, simplicity, and time required to obtain results. The economic issue analysis showed that the majority of those who would prefer to buy rather than rent the device are willing to pay up to €3,000 for a diagnostic field tool.

White sturgeon iridovirus (WSIV) disease is caused by a virus of the eponymous family and is mostly triggered by stressful environmental conditions, i.e. high rearing density, excessive handling, or temporary loss of water. The aim of this study was to develop the most effective diagnostic method for quick and efficient confirmation or exclusion of the presence of WSIV. A total of 42 samples (spleen, gills, intestine, skin, kidney, and brain) were collected from eight sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii and A. oxyrinchus) aged ≤5+ farmed or caught between 2010 and 2014 in open waters (Dąbie Lake and Szczecin Lagoon). They were tested for WSIV presence using conventional PCR, qPCR, and in situ hybridisation (ISH). In gross examination, all fish appeared to be healthy. Neither species showed clinical signs typical of WSIV infection. In the majority of cases, fragments of iridoviral DNA were found using molecular methods in the kidneys, and also in the liver, gills, and skin. The detection rate using ISH was 47.37% and most commonly the brain and kidney tissues were positive. The most efficient of the methods used was real-time PCR, with 100% effectiveness in detection of WSIV DNA. The study demonstrates the capabilities for WSIV diagnosis available to sturgeon farmers and water administrators, indicating useful methods of adequate sensitivity as well as organs to sample in order to achieve the highest probability of viral detection.

Viral infections are the greatest threat to waterfowl and cause significant economic losses. Diagnosis and differentiation of three goose viruses is difficult in the field and often requires laboratory confirmation. Therefore, the aim of the study was to develop a triplex PCR and optimise its parameters for simultaneous detection of DNA of goose parvovirus (GPV), goose polyomavirus (GHPV), and goose circovirus (GoCV). The DNA of viruses isolated from field cases from the National Veterinary Research Institute’s own collection was used for the study. The primer attachment temperature, the number of reaction cycles, and the Taq DNA polymerase and Mg²⁺ concentrations were optimised. The sensitivity and specificity of this triplex PCR was also determined. Based on the obtained results, triplex PCR parameters were optimised for simultaneous detection of DNA of GPV, GHPV, and GoCV in one sample. The following PCR products of the expected size were obtained: GPV DNA of 806 bp, GoCV DNA of 571 bp, and GHPV DNA of 180 bp. The developed triplex PCR method proved to be useful for simultaneous detection of infections with three waterfowl viruses and will be used in relevant laboratory diagnostics.

Introduction: Avian reovirus (ARV) infections in poultry populations are reported worldwide. The reovirus belongs to the genus Orthoreovirus, family Reoviridae. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of ARV infections in the poultry population based on diagnostic tests performed in 2010–2017. Material and Methods: Samples of the liver and spleen were collected from sick birds suspected of ARV infection and sent for diagnostics. Isolation was performed in 5–7-day-old SPF chicken embryos infected into the yolk sac with homogenates of internal organs of sick birds. Four primer pairs were used to detect the σNS, σC, σA, and µA ARV RNA gene fragments. A nested PCR was used for the detection of the σNS and σC genes. Results: In 2010–2017, ARV infection was found in birds from 81 flocks of broiler chickens and/or layers, 8 flocks of slaughter turkeys, and in 4 hatchery embryos at 17–20 days of incubation. The primers used in RT-PCR and nested PCR did not allow effective detection of ARV RNA in all virus-positive samples. Conclusion: The problem of ARV infections in the poultry population in Poland still persist. The primers used for various ARV segments in RT-PCR and nested PCR did not allow effective detection of RNA in the visceral organs of sick birds. The presented results confirm the necessity of using classical diagnostic methods (isolation in chicken embryos, AGID).

Taenia solium is a parasite causing porcine cysticercosis and human taeniosis and cysticercosis, parasitic zoonoses with a serious public health and economic influence. It has been globally ranked as the top foodborne parasite by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). This parasite is transmitted mainly in countryside regions where animals are free roaming, having access to human faeces, and infected pork is widely available. More developed countries eliminated cysticercosis; nonetheless, there are insufficient data about the current endemicity status of T. solium, due to increased human migration from endemic areas. Formally submitted statistics on cysticercosis in pigs are extremely inadequate. This is the result of not reporting all cases of the disease by some countries and lack of molecular verification during identification of the parasite. There is a need to develop diagnostic tests with increased sensitivity and specificity. The purpose of the present review is to summarise current knowledge about diagnostic and control methods concerning T. solium infection. The article does not address the diagnostics of human cysticercosis, since there is a distinct medical field which should be discussed separately. The paper focuses mainly on identifying the sources of T. solium infection, presenting the methods to detect and control porcine cysticercosis and taeniosis in humans.

Introduction: In the present study, some of the commercial fish farms located in the Black Sea region of Turkey, were screened for bacteria between 2012 and 2014.Material and Methods: The bacterial agents isolated from fish were identified by classical biochemical tests and the rapid diagnostic tests (API 20 E and API 20 Strep). All strains were further identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes. The strains were also investigated for resistance to different antimicrobials by the disc diffusion method. Antibiotic resistance genes, including tetracycline (B), β-lactam (ampC, blaTEM, blaPSE), florfenicol (floR), erythromycine (ereA, ereB), sulphonamide (sulI, sulII), and trimethoprim (dhfr1) genes, were determined by the PCR method.Results:Vibrio anguillarum, Vibrio fluvialis, Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, Pseudomonas luteola, Lactococcus garvieae, Streptococcus iniae, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Yersinia ruckeri were isolated from marine and freshwater cultured fish. According to the results of disc diffusion, all isolates were sensitive to florfenicol, trimethoprim+sulfamethoxazole, oxitetracycline, and enrofloxacin, and resistant to lincomycin, penicillin G, and amoxicillin. Also, sulI, sulII, and floR resistance genes were detected in the bacteria.Conclusion: The results of the study open up the opportunity to perform further investigations which could determine the possible role of ARGs in fish pathogens.

The aim of this study was to present two outbreaks of bovine abortion due to Leptospira infection in cattle herds located in the northern part of Sicily (Italy). The animals were positive for Leptospira interrogans serogroup Sejroe serovar Hardjo in a microscopic agglutination test (MAT). A total of 23 Charolaise cows (farm A) and 75 Limousine bulls and Cinisara and Modicana cows (farm B) were enrolled in this study. The blood samples were collected from all subjects at the following time points: before a cycle of intramuscular treatment with oxytetracycline dihydrate (T0), after 5–6 weeks from the treatment (T1), and every 10 weeks until seronegativisation (T2 in Farm A and T3 in Farm B). A serological test (MAT) was used for the diagnosis of leptospirosis. Two samples from farm A (2/23) and 29 samples from farm B (29/75) were positive to Leptospira interrogans, serogroup Sejroe, serovar Hardjo in the MAT. Leptospira spp. DNA was detected by real-time PCR in the urine sample of one positive cow on farm A, and in placenta and brain samples belonging to one aborted foetus on farm B. It is important to use serological and molecular diagnostic techniques complementarily to identify infected individuals.

In canine and feline populations, the number of neoplasm cases continues to increase around the world. Attempts are being made in centres of research to identify new biomarkers that speed up and improve the quality of oncological diagnostics and therapy in human and animal tumour patients. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a promising biomarker with increasing relevance to human oncology, but as yet with less application in veterinary oncology. The expression of COX-2 increases significantly during pathological processes involving inflammation, pain or fever. It is also overexpressed in humans presenting various types of tumours and in selected types of tumours in animals, particularly in dogs. This article discusses the expression of COX-2 in canine and feline tumours, the importance of COX-2 as a biomarker with diagnostic, therapeutic, prognostic and predictive relevance in oncology, and the clinical significance of inhibiting COX-2 overexpression in tumours.

In veterinary medicine, sensitive and specific markers of the early stages of renal failure still remain to be established. Podocytes could be a promising diagnostic tool in veterinary nephrology, especially in the differentiation of active pathological disease and glomerulopathies. Podocin is one of the robust proteins exploitable in detection of podocyturia. This article presents podocyte detection in urine for diagnostic purposes in veterinary medicine using a variety of methods. We describe the advantages and disadvantages of the immunohistochemical technique currently used, and of scanning microscopy, chromatography, and immunostaining. The identification of podocin-positive cells is a promising diagnostic tool in the detection of the early stages of glomerular basement membrane damage. The detection of renal failure prior to the occurrence of azotaemia is of high clinical importance from the clinical and scientific points of view.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive examination method for the assessment of functional central nervous system (CNS) disturbances. In human medicine it has a special importance as a diagnostic tool for epilepsy. Although many studies were done on the use of EEG for diagnostics of canine central nervous system disorders, the technique is still not applied routinely. The purpose of this paper was to review the use of the electroencephalography in canine neurological disorders of central nervous system diagnosis and assess the future perspectives of this technique in veterinary medicine.