Introduction The aim of the study was to determine the transmission potential of carp edema virus (CEV) and koi herpesvirus (KHV) introduced to Europe by the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Material and Methods A total of 70 round goby specimens were collected from the Szczecin Lagoon, Poland, and locations in Germany in the third and fourth quarters of 2018. The fish were analysed to detect KHV and CEV by PCR. Results Six fish specimens were positive for the presence of KHV, while none of the gobies examined showed the presence of CEV. Conclusion The CEV genome was detected in the goby specimens from Germany and from Poland. Considering the high pace of the spread of the round goby and its effectiveness in acquisition of new ecological niches, it should be kept out during refilling of carp ponds. Further studies should focus on experimental cohabitation of CEV-infected round gobies and specific-pathogen-free (SPF) carp to investigate the potential for active virus transfer.

Background: Glanders is a highly contagious and fatal zoonotic reportable antique disease of solipeds caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia mallei. This disease has been eradicated from most of the western developed countries in the 20th century and its occurrence was reduced in endemic developing nations but recent reports on the occurrence of clinical cases and outbreaks of this disease in both the eradicated and endemic countries indicates that it has regained the status of a re-emerging disease in the world. However, the information on the occurrence of B. mallei infection is almost lacking in Bangladesh. Objective: This study was conducted on the sero-surveillance and risk factors of B. mallei infection in indigenous working horses in Bangladesh Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study on the sero-surveillance and risk factors of B. mallei infection was carried out in 125 indigenous horses in the districts of Mymensingh and Tangail during January to August 2019. Individual serum samples were screened using Complement fixation test (CFT) at the OIE and National Reference Laboratory for Glanders, Germany and Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at the National Research Centre on Equines, Haryana, India. Risk factors were identified using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: The overall sero-prevalence of B. mallei infection in indigenous horses was found to be 10.4% (95% CI: 5.9 -17.5). None of the 13 CFT positive sera was positive with ELISA. The odds of B. mallei infection were 6.1 times (95%CI: 1.7-28.9) higher in horses with the history of skin lesion than those without skin lesion. Significantly higher odds of B. mallei infection (odds ratio: 5.8; 95% CI: 1.4-39.7) were observed in horses with the history of parasitic infestation than those without parasitic infestation. Conclusions: The relatively higher prevalence of B. mallei infection observed in this study should be interpreted with caution as all CFT positive samples negative with ELISA indicating some false positive reactions. Further studies are needed to test the accuracy of the serological tests for the detection of B. mallei infection in horses in Bangladesh.

Background: Brucellosis is a neglected re-emerging important zoonotic disease in the developing world. Most of the research on brucellosis was limited on the sero-epidemiology during the last 50 years and recently molecular techniques have been initiated to study brucellosis in Bangladesh. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine sero-molecular prevalence, identify risk factors and detect Brucella species associated with bovine and human brucellosis in Bangladesh Materials and Methods: Serum and milk samples from 1003 lactating dairy cows of eight military dairy farms and 715 serum samples of dairy farm workers and hospital patients were collected during the 36 months period from 2017 to 2020. All the collected sera and milk samples were tested with four different commercial diagnostic test kits to detect the prevalence of Brucella infection. The four sero-positive milkers sera and milk, and all animal samples collected from aborted cases were tested for Brucella genus-specific RT-PCR and Brucella species-specific DNA (B. abortus and B. melitensis) Multiplex PCR. Conventional PCR and sequencing were also performed. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify important risk factors of brucellosis. Results: The overall 2.39% sero-prevalence of Brucella infection was recorded with all the CFT, SAT and ELISA assay and 3.09% with RBT, whereas only 0.20% tested milks samples showed positive with MRT in the lactating dairy cows. The B. abortus DNA was amplified from all of the four RBT positive human serum samples tested. Phylogenetic tree of partial 16S ribosomal RNA sequences of the PCR products was closely matched with B. abortus. Three variables (age, parity and abortion) were found to be significantly associated with B. abortus infection in lactating cows. Conclusions: B. abortus is the causal agent of bovine brucellosis which is identified as the first time as an etiological agent of human brucellosis in occupationally exposed dairy farm workers in Bangladesh. This study could not detect the most important zoonotic B. melitensis DNA either in humans or animal samples, even in any earlier studies and therefore, further studies are required to explore the occurrence of B. melitensis in human and animal population in Bangladesh.

Background: Brucellosis is a chronic zoonotic disease with negligible mortality rate that might be the reason not to attract the concerned authority to prevent and eradicate it in low income endemic countries. Recently, it has been recognized as a re-emerging zoonotic disease not only in low income countries but also its eradicated developed world. Objective: The main objective was to determine the humoral immune response (HIR) in crossbred dairy heifers immunized with Brucellaabortusstrain RB51 vaccine by using indirect ELISA Materials and Methods: Each of the 20 randomly selected B. abortussero-negative crossbred (Holstein- Friesian  Local) dairy heifers aged between 4 to 8 months old at the Military Dairy Farm received 2.0 ml imported commercial B. abortus SRB51 strain vaccine subcutaneously in the neck region at day 0 and then booster dose at 60 days after first vaccination with similar dose and route during the period from June to October 2020. Each of the collected serum samples of 20 heifers at day 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 60, 90, 120 and 150 was tested to detect the antibody status by using commercial indirect ELISA kit. Results: The humoral immune response (HIR) in terms of antibody levels detected by OD values in the serum of immunized cross-bred dairy heifers by using B. abortus strain RB51 commercial vaccine resulted 0.097  0.0032 (mean  SE) OD value at 0 day (i.e. pre-immunization) and 0.108 ± 0.0032 at 7th day. After that, the OD value started to rise from day 14 (OD value 0.124 ± 0.0032) and reached to a peak level at 60 days (OD value 0.223  0.0032) with the initial vaccination. Booster vaccination inoculated at 60 days resulted peak antibody level in terms of OD value (0.313  0.0032) at the day 90 and then the antibody level started to decline from 120 days (OD value 0.242  0.0032) to 150 days (OD value 0.199 0.0032) in cross-bred dairy heifers. Conclusions: This study suggests that the commercial B. abortus RB51 strain vaccine has induced satisfactory HIR with initial inoculation and significantly higher HIR produced with a booster dose in crossbred heifers by using commercial I-ELISA. The presence of Brucella antibodies have importance on sero-diagnosis whereas the cell mediated immunity (CMI) plays major role in protection against brucellosis which needs further investigation in cross-bred heifers in Bangladesh.

Background: The effective control and eradication of brucellosis can be achieved by rapid and accurate diagnosis and effective vaccination but both have limitations. Therefore, brucellosis research is currently focused on the improvement of the diagnosis and vaccine induced prophylaxis. Moreover, diagnostic tests and immunization have not been thoroughly studied in buffaloes and even not compared with cattle. Therefore, the comparative evaluation of the immunological responses of Brucella vaccinated cattle and buffaloes would be required for both the diagnosis and vaccine induced efficacy. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to compare the humoral immune response (HIR) between cattle and buffalo cows immunized with B. abortus RB51 vaccine by using indirect ELISA Materials and Methods: Each of the three randomly selected B. abortus sero-negative native cows and three buffaloes received 2.0 ml imported commercial B. abortus SRB51 vaccine subcutaneously in the neck region at day 0 and then booster dose at 60 days after first vaccination with similar dose and route. Each of the collected serum samples of both the cattle and buffaloes was tested to detect the antibody status by using commercial indirect ELISA kit. Results: The results showed that the OD value of the serum of cows and buffalos before inoculation of RB51 B. abortus vaccine was 0.088 ± 0.009 and 0.096  0.011 at 0 week and 0.124 ± 0.018 and 0.111  0.010 at 1st week, near about the negative control OD value (0.106). After that, the OD value started to rise from the 2nd week (OD value (0.144 ± 0.023 and 0.1333  0.007) and reached to a peak level at 90 days (OD value 0.376  0.0080 and 0.316  0.219) and then started to decline from 120 days (OD value 0.2963  0.0416 and 0.2863  0.070) to 180 days (OD value 0.1943 0.073 and 0.176 0.172) in cows and buffalos respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests that the RB51 vaccination has induced satisfactory HIR with initial inoculation but significantly higher immune responses with booster immunization which enhancing immunity against both in the cattle and buffaloes. The CMI plays major role in protection against brucellosis needs further investigation in both cattle and buffaloes in Bangladesh.