Penicillium implicatum causes a destructive rot of pomegranate fruits.

In this study Penicillium implicatum Biourge was found to be the cause of a destructive rot of stored pomegranate (Punica granata) fruits. This species has not previously been reported to cause disease of the fruit. The ability of the strain to decay pomegranates as well as some varieties of apples (Jonagold, Selena and Vanda) under laboratory conditions after inoculation with conidia into the subcutaneous layer of healthy fruits was demonstrated. The fungus was also found on mouldy stamens of pomegranates.

[Botulism in birds living in an aquatic environment in Nové Mlýny in the Breclav District]. / Botulismus ptactva na vodním díle Nové Mlýny (okres Breclav).

Epizootic of wild water birds caused by the toxin Clostridium botulinum of C type occurred in extensive shallow artificial lakes of the Nové Mlýny dam system from May to October 1988 and later on from February to early April 1989. In total more than 3,000 dead or dying birds of 44 species were found, the following orders were prevailing: Anseriformes (56%), Lariformes (33%), Charadriiformes (6%) and Ralliformes (4%). Botulotoxin was detected at high concentrations in sarcophagic fly larvae of Calliphora vomitoria and Lucilia sericata which were collected in bird cadavers, but it was not found in different components of the aquatic environment (water, submersed vegetation, phytoplankton, zooplankton, Gastropoda, Crustacea, Oligochaeta, larvae of Odonata, Chironomidae and Ceratopogonidae). Future development of the epizootic situation in the Nové Mlýny artificial lakes will depend on the water level and meterological conditions in the critical period (May to September).

Results of arbovirological examination of birds of the family Hirundinidae in Czechoslovakia.

Migratory birds (swallow, Hirundo rustica; sand martin, Riparia riparia; house martin, Delichon urbica) caught in southern Moravia (Czechoslovakia) in 1984-87 were examined for arbovirus infections. Isolation experiments were carried out using blood samples of 183 birds (52 swallows, 107 sand martins, and 24 house martins). The results were negative. Serological examinations of 136 birds (36 swallows, 86 sand martins, and 14 house martins) were made by haemagglutination-inhibition test (HIT) using 6 arboviral antigens of the genera Alphavirus (Sindbis--SIN) and Flavivirus (tick-borne encephalitis--TBE, West Nile--WN) and of the family Bunyaviridae (Tahyna--TAH, Calovo, CVO, and Bhanja--BHA). Antibodies against all of the tested viruses were detected at different rates: SIN 2.9%, TBE 1.5%, WN 1.5%, TAH 4.4%, CVO 1.5%, and BHA 2.2%. The titres ranged from 1.20 to 1.80.

[Botulism of aquatic birds at the Starý u Pohorelic pond (Breclav District)]. / Botulismus vodních ptáku na rybníku Starý u Pohorelic (okres Breclav).

In the years 1981 and 1982 when a mass mortality of wild and domestic water birds was observed on the Starý pond, eleven diseases or just died birds were examined by the neutralization test for botulotoxin and four sludge samples for the presence of Clostridium botulinum. C. Botulinum toxin of C type was detected in four wild ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) from September 1981 and July 1982 and in one gull (Larus ridibundus) and July 1982. The highest titres (of mice i. p. LD50/g) of botulotoxin in ducks were 10(6.3) in the intestinal contents, 10(6.1) in the liver tissue and 10(5.1) in the stomach contents. In one duck we detected, besides the C type, a smaller botulotoxin amount of A type. Therefore we can recommend a complete serotypifying for the cases of botulism in water birds. Out of four sludge samples collected in September 1982 one sample was negative, whereas in three samples the C botulotoxin was demonstrated after propagation and one C. botulinum strain of C type was isolated.

Serologic examination of birds from the area of southern Moravia for the presence of antibodies against arboviruses of the groups Alfa, Flavo, Uukuniemi, Turlock and Bunyamwera supergroup. II. Wild living birds.

280 specimens of 29 species of wild living birds from 11 families captured in the endemic area of the virus Lednice in Southern Moravia (CSSR) were investigated by haemagglutination-inhibition test (HIT) on presence of antibodies against 12 arbovirus antigens of the groups Alfa-virus (Western and Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis, Semliki, Sindbis, Chikungunya), Flavovirus (Tick-Borne Encephalitis, Dengue, West Nile), the Uukuniemi group (Poteplí), the Turlock group (Lednice) and the Bunyamwera supergroup (Tahyna, Calovo). Antibodies were found only against the virus Lednice, merely in water birds--i.e. in Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)--31.9%, in Grey Lag-Goose (Anser anser)--17.2%, and in one of three Mute Swans (Cygnus olor). In relation to these findings the question of ornithophilia of mosquitoes of Culex modestus species, which are the only probable vectors of Lednice virus as yet, is discussed.

Virus neutralizing antibodies to arboviruses in birds of the order Anseriformes in Czechoslovakia.

Sera from birds of the order Anseriformes in Czechoslovakia were examined for virus neutralizing (VN) antibodies to arboviruses. VN antibodies to Sindbis, Calovo and Tahyna viruses were found in 15, 5 and 6 out of 106 greylag goose (Anser anser) sera. Out of 38 ducks, 6 mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and 1 garganey (Anas querquedula) contained VN antibodies to Sindbis virus, 6 mallards to Calovo virus, 4 mallards and 1 garganey to Tahyna virus, 2 mallards and 1 garganey to tick-borne encephalitis (TE) virus and 1 mallard to West Nile (WN) virus.