Rabies is endemic on the considerable part of the Russian Federation, and it is associated with current natural outbreaks of the infection. The highest animal morbidity rates are reported in the central and southern regions of the European part of Russia and in the southern part of Western Siberia. The Irkutsk Oblast is among the few regions of our country, which are rabies free for several decades. The research was aimed at the analysis of factors aiding to the maintenance of the rabies free status of the region. Retrospective study of archive and previously published reports on human and animal rabies cases in the Irkutsk Oblast starting from 1954 was performed. Epidemics of urban rabies ceased in the region in 1970s. Sporadic rabies cases in dogs, reported in 1976 and later, could be imported or could result from the infection from bats. Diagnostic errors were also possible. Rabies is reported in foxes in the Subjects bordering the Irkutsk Oblast: Krasnoyarsk Krai and Republic of Buryatia. It is supposed that in case of the infection introduction the forest-steppe agricultural areas near the Angara River are likely to be affected due to high population of foxes. Relative geographic isolation of the Irkutsk Oblast favors to the long animal rabies freedom of this territory. The vast area of mountain taiga with low fox population serves as an ecological barrier. In 2007–2009 and in 2019, barrier oral vaccination was carried out along the border with the Krasnoyarsk Krai and on the west coast of Baikal Lake. Measures for anti-rabies vaccination of dogs and cats were intensified. Active virological monitoring is performed on a regular basis. The paper demonstrates cartograms of fox and wolf population density along with designation of sites, where oral vaccination of wild carnivores was performed.

Rabies is a zooanthroponotic disease, causing significant economic damage, resulting from losses due to livestock deaths, costs of preventive measures and diagnostic tests. The disease is transmitted through biting or licking of damaged skin or mucosa. The disease is absolutely fatal and practically all warm-blooded animals are susceptible to it. The paper presents the analysis of statistical data on rabies morbidity and mortality among humans and animals; the assessment of epidemic situation in the Russian Federation, including the target population vaccination coverage and effectiveness evaluation of measures, taken in Russia to prevent rabies spread. The major causes of human mortality are considered. The recommendations on decreasing the disease spread risks are given. It was established that about 60 thousand human deaths and 45 thousand animal deaths from rabies have been reported in the Russian Federation within the past 10 years (from 2010 to 2019). Moreover cases of licking/scratching/biting of humans (397,248 cases in 2019, out of them 10,232 by wild animals) are reported every year. The sources of human infection within the mentioned period were dogs (39%), foxes (18%), cats (14%), raccoon dogs (14%), wolves (4%), polar foxes (4%), ferrets (4%), unknown sources (3%). The analysis of data from veterinary reports showed that the most rabies-infected regions are the Central and Volga Federal Districts. Using the mathematical modeling of the epidemic process the results of preventive measures, taken by the Veterinary Service in case of rabies in the region, were evaluated.

There are currently many controversial issues in the study of bovine respiratory syncytial infection. In this regard, it is relevant to study the biological properties of the virus, optimize the methods of its cultivation and select the most technologically advanced methods of designing diagnostic and prevention tools for this disease. The aim of this work was to select sensitive cell systems and to optimize the cultivation parameters in selected cell cultures. The Vologda/2019 strain of the bovine respiratory syncytial infection virus isolated from biological material obtained from a calf with respiratory symptoms was used in the experiment. The strain was adapted to the continuous cell culture derived from bovine turbinate tissue (BT) and deposited in the State collection of microorganism strains at FGBI “ARRIAH”. It was established that the continuous cell lines of fetal bovine trachea (FBT) and calf kidney (RBT) are the most sensitive cell systems for the reproduction of the bovine respiratory syncytial virus strain Vologda/2019, the maximum accumulation of the virus was observed in these cell cultures. The cytopathic activity of the virus in the FBT cell culture ranged from 4.78 ± 0.18 to 5.50 ± 0.16 lg TCID₅₀/cm³, and in the RBT cell culture – from 4.00 ± 0.23 to 4.75 ± 0.20 lg TCID₅₀/cm³ at days 4–5 of cultivation. It was determined that in case of multiplicity of inoculation of FBT and RBT cell cultures with the virus at 0.1 lg TCD⁵⁰/cell and the use of 2% glutamine in the maintenance nutrient medium, as well as 2% horse or cattle blood serum, it is possible to obtain virus material with high cytopathic activity.

Basic reproduction number (R₀) is one of the fundamental quantitative characteristics in epidemiology of infectious human and animal diseases. This parameter reflects the biological properties of the infectious agent, the social and economic aspects of animal husbandry, natural factors associated with the habitat of the animal population invaded by the virus (microorganism), as well as the effectiveness of methods selected for infection control, in particular, the implementation of preventive measures; it also allows foreseeing the number and probability of occurrence of new secondary outbreaks in the area at risk of the disease spread. The paper presents data on the estimation of basic reproduction number (R₀) for a range of infectious porcine diseases. A systematic analysis has been undertaken with respect to the publications available on the estimation of R 0 for various virus isolates of African swine fever, classical swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, Aujeszky’s disease, hepatitis E, encephalomyocarditis, porcine circovirus type 2, as well as pleuropneumonia associated with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, and diseases caused by pathogenic isolates of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Based on the obtained R₀ values, recommendations for the veterinary services are made on preventive vaccination of pigs against the above mentioned diseases in the areas at risk of infection spread. The necessary conditions for wild boar depopulation aimed to prevent new African swine fever outbreaks are identified, namely, the elimination of at least 75% of the wild boar population living in the risk zone within the period of time equal to one infectious period.

Currently, N2 subtype avian influenza (AI) virus actively circulates in domestic and wild bird populations and is regularly detected in China, other Asian countries and Russia, particularly in combination with H9 hemagglutinin. Therefore, a method for rapid detection of the said infectious agent is urgently required. Data on oligonucleotide primer selection and reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction condition optimization for N2 AI virus detection are presented in the paper. Modified primers and probe proposed by B. Hoffmann in 2006 as well as original primers and probes with the viruses available in the Laboratory working collection and selected during testing were assessed for N2 neuraminidase gene fragment amplification. Optimal concentrations of real-time RT-PCR master mix components and temperature-time mode were determined. Various combinations of primers were tested against ten N2 avian influenza virus isolates that genetically differed from each other in N gene. Nine viruses were isolated from birds in the Russian Federation regions and classified to different genetic groups. The real-time RT-PCR assay was tested for its specificity using AI virus isolates of different neuraminidase subtypes (H5N8, H3N6, H4N6, H5N1, H10N7) as well as samples containing other RNA-viruses: Newcastle disease virus, infectious bronchitis virus and infectious bursal disease virus. As a result of the testing, real-time RT-PCR conditions providing high sensitivity and specificity of the assay were selected and optimized.

Commensal microorganisms are responsible for numerous diseases of animals, including diseases of internal organs (gastroenteritis, pneumonia, nephritis, hepatitis, cholecystitis, etc.). Cholangiohepatitis, one of the most common liver diseases in cats, is often fatal. The focus of the study was the bile of cats, suffering from acute cholangiohepatitis. The bile was sampled using non-lethal method guided by USG. The bile amount, taken from cats by percutaneous puncture of the gall bladder, was 2.6 ± 0.85 cm³. No complications following the cholecystocentesis were observed in the animals. The microbiocenosis of bile from 51 cats was studied. Acute fe line neutrophilic cholangiohepatitis is mostly caused by commensal bacteria. The range of bacterial pathogens includes the isolates of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter cloacae, Citrobacter freundii. The infectious process was caused by two-component associations in 75% of cases, and by three-component associations in 25%. Most common polycomponent bacterial associations included E. faecalis + E. coli (26.9%), less common – E. aerogenes + E. coli (15.4%), P. vulgaris + E. coli (11.5%), S. aureus + E. coli (11.5%), rarely – P. aeruginosa + E. coli (7.7%), S. aureus + E. cloacae (3.9%), S. aureus + E. faecalis (3.9%), P. mirabilis + E. coli (3.9%), S. epidermidis + E. coli (3.9%), E. coli + S. epidermidis + E. faecalis (3.9%), P. aeruginosa + E. coli + S. epidermidis (3.9%), E. faecalis + E. coli + C. freundii (3.9%). The predominant component of the mentioned associations is E. coli serovars O101 (28.9%), O41 (2.0%), O141 (15.6%), O26 (13.3%), O138 (13.3%), O15 (6.7%) and O33 (2.2%). It was established that 76.25% of commensal microorganism isolates, recovered from the bile of cats, suffering from feline cholangiohepatitis, were pathogenic for white mice.

The material of this case consisted of a 3,5 kg male Chinchilla cat which brought to Selcuk University Veterinary Faculty Animal Hospital with the complaints of anorexia, stagnation, incoordination, watery diarrhea and severe vomiting. Mushroom intoxications suspected according to the anamnesis. False morel poisoning was diagnosed as a result of physical examination and laboratory test and it was confirmed by presence of ingested spore of morel in fecal flotation examination. As a treatment, 0.9% isotonic NaCl (Polyplex, Polifarma^®) solutions 40 ml/kg via IV, maropitant (Cerenia, Zoetis^®) 1 mg/kg as an antiemetic and to reduce visceral pain via SC, N-acetylcystein (Nacosel, Haver Farma^®) 140 mg/kg via IV, vitamins and amino acid supplementation (Duphalyte, Zoetis^®) via IV are administered. For liver health supplementation SAMe and silybin (Denamarin, Nutramax^®) 15 mg/kg via PO for 21 days prescribed. On re-examination, the cat was fully recovered. It was concluded that false morel poisoning may cause liver damage, neurologic findings along with the primary gastrointestinal system disorders. Anamnesis, presence of the ingested spore of morel observed during fecal examination is very important in the diagnosis and the prognosis is affected by the magnitude of liver damage.

Infectious disease of chickens caused by the bacterium Avibacterium paragallinarum remains one of the urgent problems of the poultry industry, as evidenced by numerous reports of recurrent infectious coryza outbreaks in chickens around the world. Bacteriological tests performed in 2014–2019 demonstrated that the disease caused by Avibacterium рaragallinarum (serogroup B) is endemic in the Russian Federation. The paper presents the results of tests for immunogenic properties of antigens of 13 infectious coryza isolates recovered from the pathological material delivered to the FGBI “ARRIAH” from poultry farms of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. For this, samples of the vaccine containing formalin-inactivated Avibacterium paragallinarum cells and an oil adjuvant were prepared. The poultry was immunized followed by challenge with homologous and heterologous isolates. The degree of manifestation of the disease clinical signs was assessed according to the method proposed by V. E. Soriano. The vaccine sample based on the antigen of the ApB08 isolate induced an insufficient immune response in poultry when infected with the ApB04 and ApB12 isolates. Conversely, a high level of animal protection was demonstrated when infected with the ApB08 isolate. ApB04, ApB08 and ApB12 isolates were comprehensively studied, identified as the most promising for production of vaccines against infectious coryza in chickens, and deposited in the FGBI “ARRIAH” Microorganism Strain Collection under numbers 1116, 5111 and 1818, respectively. Also, a comparative assessment of potency of the experimental vaccine and two commercial products against infectious coryza, including antigens of strains No. 1116, 5111 and 1818, was performed. The experimental vaccine demonstrated maximum protection against infection with Avibacterium рaragallinarum homologous strains.

The paper presents the results of mycotoxicological testing of the production batches of sunflower cake and meal, feedstuffs of soybean and wheat bran processing received from domestic processing establishments and livestock farms from 2009 to 2019. Detection and measurement of the content of fusariotoxins, including T-2 toxin, diacetoxyscirpenol, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone and fumonisins of B group, as well as alternariol, ochratoxin A, citrinin, aflatoxin B₁, sterigmatocystin, cyclopiazonic acid, mycophenolic acid, ergot alkaloids and emodin was carried out by a competitive ELISA in accordance with certified procedure. The summarized results demonstrate the predominant role of alternariol in the contamination of sunflower cake and meal, as well as the frequent occurrence of T-2 toxin, ochratoxin A, citrinin, cyclopiazonic acid, sterigmatocystin, mycophenolic acid and emodin. For the main contaminants, a shift in the medians and 90% percentile towards the lower values of the average and maximum contents was observed, which indicates the possibility of their accumulation beyond the typical range. The summary and results of mycotoxicological study of wheat bran and feedstuffs of soybean processing for a complete list of 14 parameters are presented in this paper for the first time. It was found that the range of mycotoxins that can contaminate soybean meal, cake and full-fat soybean is quite wide, which is consistent with the results of the study of soybean seed mycobiota composition. It was demonstrated that soybean meal can accumulate high concentrations of mycophenolic acid – up to 1,255 μg/kg. As for the wheat bran batches, cases of contamination with diacetoxyscirpenol and the frequent occurrence of T-2 toxin, emodin and ergot alkaloids were detected. The initial monitoring data, systematized and summarized in this paper, are presented in electronic form in the section “Additional materials”. The prospects of testing of feedstuffs from processing other oilseeds, as well as from wheat and corn grain processing are discussed.

During reproduction in biological systems, FMD virus forms four variants of components, three of which do not include RNA of the virus. In the process of industrial production of FMD vaccines, special attention is paid to the number of whole virions, which have the most important biological properties of FMD virus and are the main components that determine the immunogenicity of vaccine preparations. Raw materials for vaccines at various stages of the technological process are tested for concentration of FMDV 146S component. The traditional method of determination is quantitative complement fixation test. In recent years, real-time RT-PCR has been used for indirect determination of FMDV 146S component concentration in a virus-containing suspension. The article presents a new approach to indirect determination of FMDV 146S component concentration in a non-inactivated suspension by comparing the maximum extreme points of the graphs of the second derivative of the fluorescence signal accumulation curves and the number of amplification reaction cycles. The dependence between FMDV 146S component concentration and the maximum extreme points of the graphs of the second derivative of the fluorescence signal accumulation curve is presented in the form of a square function: C_{146S FMDV} = 0.0111(C_p)² – 1.0157C_p + 20.446 with a high accuracy of approximation (R² = 0.993). The proposed model allows to quantitatively estimate the content of 146S component in virus-containing vaccine raw materials. The presented method allows studying a large number of samples of non-inactivated raw materials for FMD vaccine in 4–5 hours. The main advantage of the proposed method is the capacity to determine the concentration of FMDV 146S component in a suspension with a high level of ballast proteins (more than 7.00 mg/cm³) and complete viral particles (from 0.01 to 5.00 μg/cm³).

Due the increasing number of alcoholic fatty liver disease cases in the world, the development of methods for treating this disease is an urgent task. According to different publications mineral water from hot springs has a beneficial effect on liver cells. In this regard, an investigation was performed with the aim to assess the effectiveness of hot spring water from the Süreyya I spring (Afyonkarahisar province) in treatment of fatty liver disease. 50 one-day-old albino mice with an average body weight of 29.6 g were selected for the experiment. The tests of liver tissue, biochemical and hematological blood tests, as well as blood gas tests performed at this stage, demonstrated deterioration in all parameters. To prove the effectiveness of using hot spring water in the treatment of alcoholic fatty liver disease, two groups of 25 mice each were formed. The animals of the control group were given tap water to drink, and were also bathed (daily) in it for one hour. The mice of the experimental group were given the hot spring water to drink and bathed in it for 15 minutes every day. Histological tests and blood tests were performed on day 1, 7, 14, and 21 of the experiment using five animals randomly selected from each group. On day 21 of the experiment, the animals of the experimental group demonstrated a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the total number of leukocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, as well as in the levels of aspartate aminostatesferase, alanine aminopenesferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, low-density lipoproteins, total cholesterol, triglycerides. There was also an increase in erythrocyte, hemoglobin, hematocrit, total protein, albumin and high density lipoprotein levels (p < 0.05). The results of histopathological analysis also demonstrated positive dynamics. At the same time, no pronounced positive dynamics was observed in animals of the control group. Moreover, microscopy of liver samples showed an ongoing process of tissue degeneration. The data obtained allow us to conclude that it is advisable to use the hot spring water for the treatment of alcoholic fatty liver disease.

K.: DIA, 2020. 240 p. ISBN 978-617-7785-10-0