[Occurrence of Trichinella spp. in wild boar in Switzerland]. / Vorkommen von Trichinella spp. beim Wildschwein in der Schweiz.

Trichinellosis is a worldwide occurring zoonosis caused by the intracellular nematode Trichinella spp. One of the main infection sources in Europe is raw or undercooked meat from wild boar. Trichinella britovi is prevalent in wild carnivores in Switzerland, thus a possible inclusion of wild boar in this wildlife cycle cannot be excluded. In order to assess the prevalence of Trichinella infection in wild boar, we tested 1,458 animals with both parasitological and serological methods. In none of the animals Trichinella-larvae could be recovered by the artificial digestion method (prevalence of larvae: 0 %; 95 % CI 0.0 - 0.3). Antibodies in meat juice were detected in 57 animals using a standardized E/S-Ag-ELISA. However, in the confirmatory westernblot, only 3 animals remained seropositive (seroprevalence: 0.2 %; 95 % CI 0.07 %-0.60 %). The occurrence of wild boar positive for anti-Trichinella-antibodies indicates that meat inspection for Trichinella-larvae in this species is important to prevent human infections.

Prevalence of classical swine fever, Aujeszky's disease and brucellosis in a population of wild boar in Switzerland.

During two survey rounds of a national surveillance system for infectious diseases in wild boar in Switzerland, each lasting four months from November to February, between 2001 and 2003, 1949 blood samples and 62 tissue samples from the spleen and 50 from the reproductive organs were collected from hunted wild boar. The survey was designed so that freedom from infection could be detected with a probability of 95 per cent at a threshold prevalence of less than 1 per cent for classical swine fever and Aujeszky's disease and less than 1.5 per cent for brucellosis. There was no serological evidence of classical swine fever or Aujeszky's disease, but brucellosis due to Brucella suis biovar 2 was confirmed serologically and by bacterial isolation.

[Abortion in sheep: epidemic Salmonella abortusovis outbreak 2005 in Switzerland]. / Abort beim Schaf: Salmonella Abortusovis Epidemie 2005 in der Westschweiz.

In spring 2005, the outbreak of contagious abortion caused by Salmonella Abortusovis in 6 sheep flocks in Switzerland led to considerable economic losses. The Swiss small ruminant health service (BGK) evaluated this case. The aim was to identify the source of the epidemic in order to avoid further spread of infection and to evaluate the possibility of using vaccination. Moreover, a strategy for prevention of future outbreaks was developed. This article aims to increase disease awareness of food animal practitioners for Salmonella Abortusovis abortion in sheep.

[Two cases of renal amyloidosis in the shar pei]. / Deux cas d'amyloïdose rénale du shar pei.

The variability of the symptomatology and of the lesions of renal amyloidosis of the shar pei is described together with difficulty of making the diagnosis.

Serological (Em2-ELISA) and parasitological examinations of fox populations for Echinococcus multilocularis infections.

Serum or body fluid samples of 1,006 foxes were investigated in an ELISA for antibodies against a highly sensitive and specific antigen (Em2-antigen) of Echinococcus multilocularis. Parasitological examinations of the intestines and simultaneous serological examinations were carried out in 505 foxes: A group of 98 blue foxes (Alopex lagopus) from Norwegian fox farms did not contain intestinal stages of E. multilocularis and was clearly sero-negative in Em2-ELISA. On the other hand in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) originating from European areas known to be endemic for E. multilocularis the following average prevalence rates were found: 244 foxes from Southern Germany, E. multilocularis prevalence 55% and sero-prevalence 60%; 139 foxes from Austria, E. multilocularis prevalence 4% and sero-prevalence 12%. Serological identification of individual foxes with or without intestinal E. multilocularis infection was not possible. Only serological (no parasitological) examination in 402 foxes originating from endemic areas in Switzerland resulted in a sero-prevalence rate of 37%. Sero-prevalence was only 6% and 4% in 54 and 26 other foxes, respectively, originating from Swiss and German areas where E. multilocularis has not yet been reported. Negative control Norwegian (farmed) silver foxes (n = 43) were all sero-negative. The specificity of the Em2-ELISA was confirmed by negative Em2-serologies with sera from dogs infected with intestinal and tissue dwelling helminth species (with the exception of two from 24 dogs infected with E. granulosus).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Hypothalamic and cortical neurons of normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats are differently affected by streptozotocin diabetes.

Diabetic encephalopathy is a relatively frequent late complication in human and experimental diabetes mellitus. Although it is generally assumed that microangiopathy plays a major role in its pathogenesis, many aspects of the latter are still poorly understood. To detect possible correlations between vascular and cellular changes, we examined in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive streptozotocin diabetic rats the neurons of hypothalamic and cortical regions in which the capillary basement membrane thickness had been known from a previous study. Arcuate and ventromedial nucleus neurons of normotensive diabetic rats compared to those of corresponding controls showed a reduced cytoplasmic area after 4 but not after 8 months of experiment. No difference was found between hypertensive control and diabetic rats after either 4 or 8 months of experiment. After the 8th month cortical neurons of normotensive controls were smaller in an occipital than in a frontal region and within the same region in the following layer order: deep less than superficial less than intermediate. Neurons of hypertensive controls behaved comparably yet were generally smaller than those of normotensive controls in each corresponding region. Compared to those of control, cortical neurons of normotensive diabetic rats were smaller in superficial and deep layers of both regions and in the intermediate layer of the frontal region. Hypertension appeared to antagonize diabetes. Despite an arcuate nucleus microangiopathy found in rats from both strains after 4 and 8 months of diabetes, neuronal changes were seen only in normotensive animals after 4 months. In the intermediate cortical layer, where microangiopathy was most marked after 8 months of experiment, neurons were not or only slightly reduced in size.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)