Spring viraemia of carp (SVC) in the UK: the road to freedom.

Spring viraemia of carp (SVC) is a disease of international importance that predominantly affects cyprinid fish and can cause significant mortality. In the United Kingdom (UK), SVC was first detected in 1977 with further cases occurring in fisheries, farms, wholesale and retail establishments throughout England and Wales (but not Scotland, where few cyprinid populations exist, nor Northern Ireland where SVC has never been detected) over the subsequent 30 years. Following a control and eradication programme for the disease initiated in 2005, the UK was recognised free of the disease in 2010. This study compiles historic records of SVC cases in England and Wales with a view to understanding its routes of introduction and spread, and assessing the effectiveness of the control and eradication programme in order to improve contingency plans to prevent and control future disease incursions in the cyprinid fish sectors. Between 1977 and 2010 the presence of SVC was confirmed on 108 occasions, with 65 of the cases occurring in sport fisheries and the majority of the remainder occurring in the ornamental fish sector. The study found that throughout the history of SVC in the UK, though cases were widely distributed, their occurrence was sporadic and the virus did not become endemic. All evidence indicates that SVC was not able to persist under UK environmental conditions, suggesting that the majority of cases were a result of new introductions to the UK as opposed to within-country spread. The control and eradication programme adopted in 2005 was highly effective and two years after its implementation cases of SVC ceased. Given the non-persistent nature of the pathogen the most important aspect of the control programme focused on preventing re-introduction of the virus to the UK. Despite the effectiveness of these controls against SVC, this approach is likely to be less effective against more persistent pathogens such as koi herpesvirus, which are likely to require more stringent measures to prevent within-country spread.

Koi herpesvirus: distribution and prospects for control in England and Wales.

Koi herpesvirus (KHV) causes a highly virulent disease affecting carp, Cyprinus carpio L., and poses a serious socio-economic threat to the UK carp industry. This study aimed to determine the geographic distribution and prevalence of KHV exposed fish in England and Wales through ELISA antibody testing. Only three of the 82 farms sampled produced positive results, suggesting fish farms provide a relatively safe source of fish. Of the 71 'high-risk' fisheries tested, 26 were positive. All eight geographic areas within England and Wales studied had at least one KHV positive site. Twelve consignments of imported koi carp from seven S.E. Asian countries were tested for KHV antibody. Six consignments from six different countries were positive. Although a high proportion of consignments were positive, the results indicate that lower risk stocks of fish exist that could be sourced by the ornamental carp sector. The study provides evidence that KHV is widespread and prevalent in 'high-risk' fisheries. There are, however, prospects for controlling KHV as English and Welsh farms appear to be relatively free of the virus, and in most cases fish are not moved from fisheries to other waters.

Comparison of the effects of desloratadine and levocetirizine on histamine-induced wheal, flare and itch in human skin.

OBJECTIVE: A previous study showed the inhibitory effects of loratadine on histamine-induced wheal, flare and itch in human skin to be very variable between individuals. It was hypothesised that this variability may have been due to differences in the rates of metabolism of loratadine to its active form, desloratadine. This double blind, crossover study examined the effects of desloratadine in 12 healthy volunteers. Levocetirizine was used as a comparator. METHODS: Desloratadine (5 mg), levocetirizine (5 mg) or placebo was taken orally 4 h before an intradermal injection of histamine (20 microL, 100 microM) or vehicle control into the forearm skin. Flare areas were assessed by scanning laser Doppler imaging before and at 30 s intervals for a period of 9 min. Wheal areas were measured by planimetry at 10 min. Itch was scored every 30 s for 5 min using a visual analogue scale. RESULTS: Following placebo administration, the mean (+/- SEM) wheal area at 10 min was 79.3 +/- 6.9 mm(2), mean flare area for the first 5 min following challenge 26.6 +/- 2.7 cm(2), and itch score for the same period 48.5 +/- 7.6%. The effects of desloratadine were variable between individuals, mean reductions in the wheal and flare areas being 17% (P = 0.033) and 12% (P = 0.036). Desloratadine did not reduce itch significantly. Levocetirizine was more consistent in its effects, mean reductions in wheal, flare and itch being 51%, 67% 78% respectively (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A single dose of 5 mg levocetirizine produced more consistent and greater inhibitory effects on histamine-induced wheal, flare and itch than did 5 mg desloratadine. The difference is suggested to reflect the basic pharmacokinetics of the two drugs.

Nucleotide sequence analysis of the glycoprotein gene of putative spring viraemia of carp virus and pike fry rhabdovirus isolates reveals four genogroups.

RT-PCR methods have been applied to the detection and sequencing of the glycoprotein gene of putative spring viraemia of carp viruses (SVCV) and pike fry rhabdoviruses (PFRV), including isolates from tench, grass carp, roach, bream and false harlequin, sheatfish and orfe. Phylogenetic analysis of a 550 nucleotide (nt) region of the glycoprotein gene identified 4 groups, I to IV. Significantly, the majority of viruses previously identified as PFRV formed a distinct cluster (Genogroup IV) which shared <80% nucleotide identity with the PFRV reference strain (Genogroup III). The similarity between another PFRV-like virus isolated from grass carp and representatives of Genogroups III and IV was also <80%, indicating that this virus belonged to a third group (Genogroup II). All of the putative SVC viruses were assigned to a 4th group (Genogroup I), sharing <61% nucleotide identity with viruses in Genogroups II to IV.

Isolation of a rhabdovirus during outbreaks of disease in cyprinid fish species at fishery sites in England.

A virus was isolated during disease outbreaks in bream Abramis brama, tench Tinca tinca, roach Rutilis rutilis and crucian carp Carassius carassius populations at 6 fishery sites in England in 1999. Mortalities at the sites were primarily among recently introduced fish and the predominant fish species affected was bream. The bream stocked at 5 of the 6 English fishery sites were found to have originated from the River Bann, Northern Ireland. Most fish presented few consistent external signs of disease but some exhibited clinical signs similar to those of spring viraemia of carp (SVC), with extensive skin haemorrhages, ulceration on the flanks and internal signs including ascites and petechial haemorrhages. The most prominent histopathological changes were hepatocellular necrosis, interstitial nephritis and splenitis. The virus induced a cytopathic effect in tissue cultures (Epithelioma papulosum cyprini [EPC] cells) at 20 degrees C and produced moderate signals in an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the detection of SVC virus. The virus showed a close serological relationship to pike fry rhabdovirus in both EIA and serum neutralisation assays and to a rhabdovirus isolated during a disease outbreak in a bream population in the River Bann in 1998. A high degree of sequence similarity (> or = 99.5% nucleotide identity) was observed between the English isolates and those from the River Bann. Experimental infection of juvenile bream, tench and carp with EPC cell-grown rhabdovirus by bath and intraperitoneal injection resulted in a 40% mortality of bream in the injection group only. The virus was re-isolated from pooled kidney, liver and spleen tissue samples from moribund bream. The field observations together with the experimental results indicate that this rhabdovirus is of low virulence but may have the potential to cause significant mortality in fishes under stress.

Photooxidation of 3-substituted pyrroles: a postcolumn reaction detection system for singlet molecular oxygen in HPLC.

A postcolumn photochemical reaction detection scheme, based on the reaction of 3-substituted pyrroles with singlet molecular oxygen ((1)O(2)), has been developed. The method is selective and sensitive for the determination of a class of organic compounds called (1)O(2)-sensitizers and is readily coupled to HPLC. Following separation by HPLC, analytes ((1)O(2)-sensitizers) are excited by a Hg pen-ray lamp. Analytes that are efficient (1)O(2)-sensitizers promote ground-state O(2) ((3)Σ(g)(-)) to an excited state ((1)Σ(g)(+) or (1)Δ(g)), which reacts rapidly with tert-butyl-3,4,5-trimethylpyrrolecarboxylate (BTMPC) or N-benzyl-3-methoxypyrrole-2-tert-carboxylate (BMPC), which is added to the mobile phase. Detection is based on the loss of pyrrole (BTMPC or BMPC). The reaction is catalytic in nature since one analyte molecule may absorb light many times, producing large amounts of (1)O(2). Detection limits for several (1)O(2)-sensitizers were improved by 1-2 orders of magnitude over optimized UV-absorbance detection. This paper discusses the optimization of the reaction conditions for this photochemical reaction detection scheme and its application to the detection of PCBs, nitrogen heterocycles, nitro and chloro aromatics, and other substituted aromatic compounds.

Nucleoplasmic localization of prelamin A: implications for prenylation-dependent lamin A assembly into the nuclear lamina.

The synthesis of the nuclear lamina protein lamin A requires the prenylation-dependent processing of its precursor protein, prelamin A. Unlike p21ras, which undergoes similar initial posttranslational modifications, maturation of lamin A results in the proteolytic removal of the prenylated portion of the molecule. We have used an in vitro prenylation system to demonstrate the nature of the prenyl substituent on prelamin A to be a farnesyl group. Further, the in vitro farnesylation of prelamin A requires an intact cysteine-aliphatic-aliphatic-other (CAAX) amino acid sequence motif at its carboxyl terminus. The effect of blocking the prenylation of prelamin A on its localization and assembly into the nuclear lamina was investigated by indirect immunofluorescence. Expression of wild-type prelamin A in lovastatin-treated cells showed that nonprenylated prelamin A accumulated as nucleoplasmic particles. Upon addition of mevalonate to lovastatin-treated cells, the wild-type lamin A was incorporated into the lamina within 3 hr. Expression of a mutant lamin A in which the carboxyl-terminal 21 amino acids were deleted resulted in a lamin molecule that was directly assembled into the lamina. These results indicate that the carboxyl-terminal peptide of prelamin A blocks its proper assembly into the nuclear lamina and that the prenylation-initiated removal of this peptide can occur in the nucleus.

Surgical operation rates: a twelve year experience in Stockton on Tees.

A review of twelve years surgical practice in a district in the North East of England is presented. During this period 63 562 surgical operations were undertaken. Analyses of these operations show that the amount of elective general surgery undertaken has almost doubled and the rate of emergency general surgery has remained remarkably constant. There has been a significant increase in the number of gallbladder, varicose vein and minor general surgical procedures performed. There has also been a significant increase in urological surgery and in orthopaedic surgery which has doubled over the study period.