Conveners
Viral Epidemiology and Case Reports
- Konstantinos Papageorgiou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
- Anika Friese (Freie Universität Berlin)
Equine infectious anemia (EIA) is a notifiable viral disease in equids caused by a vector-borne lentivirus. In March 2025, EIA was diagnosed in a horse in the Netherlands for the first time since 2017. The animal showed no clinical signs of illness and originated from Eastern Europe, where EIA is endemically present. The infection came to light when the horse was tested for antibodies against...
In the spring of 2025, an unusually high number of dead European hares (Lepus europaeus) were found in a region northeast of Vienna, Austria. Pathological and histological examinations revealed typical swellings around the eyes, nose and genital tract with epithelial viral inclusions, consistent with a poxvirus infection. PCR analysis and cytopathic effects on RK13 cells confirmed the presence...
The Hepadnaviridae family comprises circular DNA viruses with hepatotropism [1]. The genome sequence of a novel avian hepadnavirus was serendipitously generated in a passerine ornamental bird while performing a sequence-independent enrichment protocol for circular DNA, based on rolling cycle amplification (RCA) [2]. An archival collection of samples was screened with a specific qPCR, with an...
In October 2024 an infection of European bat lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1, lyssavirus Hamburg) was confirmed in a domestic cat in the Netherlands. The cat started to show abnormal behavior on October 22nd. Several weeks before, the animal owners had found a dead bat in their home, which was thought to be caught by the cat. At October 25th the cat was euthanized and sent to the national reference...
Avian colibacillosis refers to any localised or systemic infection caused entirely or partly by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). It includes colisepticemia, air sac disease, peritonitis, salpingitis, synovitis, and, in young birds, yolk sac infection. Over the past decade, a new syndrome known as “Black proventriculus-Bp,” caused by APEC, has been recognised in two different broiler...
Britain has eight species of carnivorous wild mammal which, in their international populations, are known to be susceptible to a range of Alphacoronaviruses and Betacoronaviruses (CoV’s).
Previous work in 2020-2021 to determine if SARS-CoV-2 was present in UK wildlife demonstrated no detection of this pandemic virus. However, a novel mustelid coronavirus, a previously uncharacterised stoat...
