Short communication: performance of a blocking antibody ELISA bulk-tank milk test for detection of dairy sheep flocks exposed to border disease virus.

The aim of this study was to investigate the test characteristics of a blocking antibody ELISA applied to bulk-tank milk (BTM) samples for the detection of dairy sheep flocks positive for antibodies to border disease virus. In 161 flocks recruited in 2009 and 2010, the antibody inhibition percentage (AIP) in BTM was compared with the prevalence estimate of antibody-positive ewes obtained from an age-representative sample of 45 milking ewes. A strong negative exponential relationship (R(2)=0.89) was found between AIP in BTM and seroprevalence level. Using receiver operating characteristic analysis, the best AIP decision threshold in BTM to discriminate between low (<10%) and high (≥10%) antibody-positive flocks was 65%. Diagnostic performance estimates based on observed seroprevalence levels and Monte Carlo simulations showed that this threshold value was associated with high sensitivity and specificity (91.9±5.5% and 95.9±1.6%, respectively), whereas the 80% decision threshold recommended in dairy cows yielded lower specificity (83.6±2.0%). Results obtained from the same flocks during 2 subsequent milking campaigns showed that the 65% AIP cut-off value was associated with fewer false-positive results and is preferred. Testing of BTM samples could be a powerful tool in inferring border disease virus seroprevalence in a flock and in Pestivirus control schemes in dairy sheep flocks.

Patterns of mortality and their changes in France (1968-99): insights into the structure of diseases leading to death and epidemiological transition in an industrialised country.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological transition theory is based on a succession of specific "patterns" of causes of death in human societies. However, the reality and consistency of patterns of causes of death in a population at a given moment has never been formally and statistically evaluated. METHODS: Correlation analyses and principal component analysis were used to explore the correlation between age and sex cause-specific death rates and to identify consistent patterns of mortality in France for two periods: 1968-79 and 1988-99. RESULTS: Cause-specific death rates in France from 1988 to 1999 were found to be strongly and consistently correlated across space and time. The analysis outlines four specific patterns: mortality of 45 - 84-year olds, mostly by neoplasms, cardiovascular and digestive diseases; mortality of the oldest old (>84 years); mortality of 25 - 64-year-old men, notably by HIV infection; and mortality by injury and poisoning of 15 - 44-year olds. These patterns, which cover 96% of the total mortality during the period, differ from those for the period 1968-79 when respiratory diseases and conditions affecting children aged <1 year shaped mortality. They also differ substantially from those predicted by classical epidemiological transition theory. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence for an evolutionary structure of patterns of mortality in contemporary France and therefore suggests using the concept of epidemiological transition in a less simplistic way than is commonly the case. It also shows much stronger interrelationships between diseases leading to death than is usually believed and suggests that current categorisations of cause-specific mortality in populations need reconsideration.

[Surgical treatment of Basedow's disease: total thyroidectomy]. / Il trattamento chirurgico del morbo di Basedow: la tiroidectomia totale.

The Authors report their experience in the treatment of Graves disease. After a short review of the literature, the Authors stress the medical trait of such disease with possible spontaneous resolution. Therefore the number of cases surgically treated is necessarily low. Thirty patients, all with specific antibodies, were treated with total thyroidectomy. The therapy chosen and the results obtained are herein shown. No definitive hypoparathyroidism and inferior laryngeal nerve injuries were registered.