scholarly journals Congenital disorders in the cattle population of the Czech Republic

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 55-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Čítek ◽  
V. Řehout ◽  
J. Hájková

The aim of the paper was to analyse congenital disorders in the Czech cattle population in 1986–2001. The offspring of 474 sires – 215 Czech Simmental, 236 Holstein, and 23 beef – were diagnosed with congenital disorders which were unevenly distributed because only 18 occurred in the progeny of 10 and more sires, in contrast to 88 occurring in the progeny of 1 sire only. Umbilical hernia was the most frequently noted disorder, and 136 sires fathered progeny with limb anomalies. The most frequent gestational accident was schistosomus reflexus, the results suggesting a familial burden. Three sires fathering offspring with the afflicted spinal column and limbs were heterozygous for Complex Vertebral Malformation (CVM) though they had not been reported as such. Foetal defects and stillbirth were quite frequent, and the calves affected were fathered by 56 sires. In rare disorders with a low incidence, an accurate genetic analysis or even simple discrimination between inherited and acquired defects is problematic. It would be our recommendation that those sires with a higher incidence of defects among their offspring should be disqualified from fathering stock bulls, or culled.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Piler ◽  
Vojtěch Thon ◽  
Lenka Andrýsková ◽  
Kamil Doležel ◽  
David Kostka ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundAlthough the Czech Republic weathered the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic with relatively low incidence, the second wave of the global pandemic saw it rank among countries bearing the greatest COVID-19 burden, both in Europe and on a worldwide scale. The aim of the nationwide prospective seroconversion (PROSECO) study was to investigate the dynamics of seroconversion of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the Czech population.MethodsAll clients of the second largest health insurance company in the Czech Republic were sent a written invitation to participate in this longitudinal study. The study includes the first 30,054 persons who provided a blood sample between October 2020 and March 2021. Seroprevalence was compared between calendar periods of blood sample collection, RT-PCR test results, sociodemographic factors, and other characteristics.FindingsThe data show a dramatic increase in seropositivity over time, from 28% in October/November 2020 to 43% in December 2020/January 2021 to 51% in February/March 2021. These trends were consistent with government data on cumulative viral antigenic prevalence in the population captured by PCR testing – although the seroprevalence rates established in this study were considerably higher than those listed in government data. Data pooled across the entire study period exhibited minor differences in seropositivity between sexes, age groups and body mass index categories; results were similar between test providing laboratories. Seropositivity was substantially higher among symptomatic vs. asymptomatic persons (76% vs. 34%). At least one third of all seropositive participants were asymptomatic, and 28% participants who developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 never underwent PCR testing.InterpretationAntibody response provides a better marker of past SARS-CoV-2 infection than PCR testing data. Our data on seroconversion confirm the rapidly increasing prevalence in the Czech population during the dramatically rising pandemic wave prior to the beginning of massive vaccination. The planned second and third assessment of the study participants (April 2021 – September 2021, October 2021 – March 2022) will provide valuable evidence on the seroprevalence changes following vaccination and persistence of antibodies resulting from natural infection and vaccination.Research in contextEvidence before this studySimilarly to most European countries, the first COVID-19 epidemic wave in the Czech Republic produced a relatively low incidence (86.9 confirmed cases per 100,000 persons over three months). At the peaks of the second wave, however, over 100 confirmed cases per 100,000 persons were diagnosed daily and the Czech Republic ranked among the countries with the greatest burden of COVID-19 in Europe and in the world. Only a few nationwide population-based studies have been published covering the second wave of the epidemic in Europe, and none of them from the Central and Eastern European region.Added value of this studyThe PROSECO study will provide key data from the heavily affected Central European region and contribute to the epidemiological and serological characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. All 30,054 study participants were recruited between October 2020 and March 2021, thus covering all three epidemic peaks (November 2020, January and March 2021) of the second COVID-19 epidemic wave. This allows us to follow the dynamics of seroconversion of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the immunologically naive and unvaccinated population during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study participants will be re-assessed in the second (April 2021 – September 2021) and third (October 2021 – March 2022) PROSECO phases to further study the post-infection/post-vaccination dynamics of seroconversion in/after a period of massive vaccination.Implications of all the available evidenceData from the first phase of the PROSECO study indicate that the percentage of the population that has been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 may be substantially higher than estimates based on official data on cumulative viral positivity incidence as at least one third of seropositive participants were asymptomatic, and 28% of participants who developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 never underwent PCR testing. Regional seroprevalence data provide key information to inform, in combination with other surveillance data, public health policies and will be instrumental for the successful management of the subsequent phases of the global pandemic.The number of seropositive participants who never underwent RT-PCR testing demonstrates the importance of serological population-based studies describing the spread and exposure to the virus in the population over time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (No. 5) ◽  
pp. 269-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Ceplecha ◽  
V. Svobodova ◽  
C. Lendon ◽  
R. Husnik ◽  
K. Horackova ◽  
...  

Tritrichomonas blagburni (previously called T. foetus) has been implicated as an aetiological agent of long-term large-bowel diarrhoea in cats in many countries worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of, and risk factors for T. blagburni among a cohort of cats living in different conditions in the Czech Republic. Samples were collected from 170 cats living in different environments. The InPouch™ TF-Feline medium method was used for diagnosis of feline trichomonosis. A single case (0.6%) with motile trichomonads identified as Pentatrichomonas hominis was found in a cat from a multi-cat household. Our study suggests that trichomonads and in particular, T. blagburni, infection may be much less common in the Czech Republic than in neighbouring countries, despite the inclusion of cats that were likely to be from higher-risk groups. A review of studies of the association of trichomonads and feline diarrhoea carried out in different countries revealed variation in the frequency of trichomonads detected. Different combinations of PCR or culture methods for screening or confirmation have been utilised, with or without species differentiation; however, this could not solely account for the variation in the occurrence between countries. From those studies where differentiation was performed, we calculated from the combined studies that T. blagburni occurred in six cats without diarrhoea (1.1%) and 47 cases with diarrhoea (5%). This finding supports an association with diarrhoea as well as the occurrence of asymptomatic cases. We note that in many studies, including our own, the occurrence of T. blagburni may well be underestimated and suggest that future studies use a combination of PCR screening of both faeces and faecal cultures, with differentiation of trichomonad species.


2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (No. 6) ◽  
pp. 333-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Citek ◽  
V. Rehout ◽  
J. Hajkova ◽  
J. Pavkova

A screening was carried out for CVM, BLAD, DUMPS, bovine citrullinaemia, glycogen storage disease V, and Robertsonian translocations in the cattle population of the Czech Republic. In 406 Holstein sires and 146 Czech Pied (Czech Simmental) sires entering the AI programme in the Czech Republic from 2003–2005, no heterozygous sire for DUMPS, bovine citrullinaemia and BLAD was found. The heterozygote was not found also in the beef sires of Charolais, Limousine, Beef Simmental, Blonde d’Aquitaine, Belgian Blue, Aberdeen-Angus, and Hereford breeds. In 111 elite Holstein females, 21 (18.9%) were heterozygotes for CVM, and were dominant homozygotes for BLAD, DUMPS and bovine citrullinaemia. In the myophosphorylase gene responsible for the glycogen storage disease V, in the Charolais (n = 30), Czech Pied (n = 53), and Belgian Blue, Limousine, Blonde d’Aquitaine, Aberdeen Angus, and Beef Simmental sires analysed, the heterozygote was not found. Robertsonian translocations were examined in 767 Holstein sires, 1 010 Czech Pied (Simmental) sires, 142 beef sires, and 48 dams. Of these, 10 sires of Czech Pied breed, 5 beef sires, and 13 females were found to be positive. The monitoring of BLAD, CVM, and Robertsonian translocations is recommended.


2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 414-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kosinova ◽  
I. Psikal

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of open reading frames 6 and 7 was applied to comparative genetic analysis of live attenuated vaccine strains (Amervac-PRRS/A3, Porcilis PRRS, Ingelvac PRRS) of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), registered in the Czech Republic, six field viruses (L-588, L-1606, L-2053, L-3305, L-6558, L-6791), and three PRRSV local field isolates (CAMP V-502, CAMP V-503, VOS 2878) found in pig herds in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The set of restriction enzymes Hae II, Alu I and BsaJ I allowed the differentiation of local field isolates, field viruses of PRRS, and vaccine strains of the European genotype from North American genotype, but could also distinguish between viruses of the same genotype. Five different RFLP patterns were obtained from twelve examined PRRS viruses by combination of the above restriction enzymes. RFLP code 1-1-1 was the most frequent digestion pattern within all PRRS field viruses (L-588, L-1606, L-2053, L-3305, L-6558, L-6791), CAMP V-502 isolate and vaccine strain Porcilis PRRS, which is suggestive of higher antigenic identity among the compared viruses. In the North American types (Ingelvac PRRS vaccine strain and VOS 2878 isolate), homogeneity in restriction patterns (code 2-x-4) was recorded. These studies indicate that PCR-based RFLP analysis of ORF6 and ORF7 of genes might be a suitable tool in epidemiological studies of PRRSV, similarly to the studies based on genetic analysis of ORF5 gene.


2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 127-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Veverka ◽  
J. Palicová ◽  
I. Křížková

VEVERKA K., PALICOVÁ J., KŘÍŽKOVÁ I. (2008): . Plant Protect. Sci., 44: 127–137. The warm climate pathogen <i>Macrophomina phaseolina</i> (Tassi) Goid., which causes charcoal disease, has been reported in the Czech Republic since 1999. The aim of our work was to study the incidence of disease between 2000–2007 in the main sunflower growing regions and analyse the relationship between weather conditions and the occurrence of the pathogen. The first and highest incidence of disease was in the Žatec region. However, in the region south of Brno there was no disease in 2000, 2001 and 2003, and only individual low incidence in other years until 2007, when the disease was found in nine localities. The incidence of the disease is increasing year by year indicating a spread of the pathogen. The warm and dry periods throughout the end of July and August have promoted the disease. However in some years where weather conditions were favourable for the pathogen, in several cases no disease was found. It is assumed, that the pathogen was not yet present in these localities. Soil conditions are critical. Diseased plants are usually distributed in several dispersed groups in the stand, especially on higher and drier parts of the field. Disease is also often found on plants suffering from compressed roots. Diseased plants had poorly developed heads and seeds.


2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 360-365
Author(s):  
Markéta Urbanová ◽  
Jana Reiterová ◽  
Romana Ryšavá ◽  
Jitka Štekrová ◽  
Miroslav Merta

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 98-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Polák

Plum pox virus (PPV) is widely distributed in plums and myrobalans in western, central and easternBohemia, in north-western, central and north-easternMoravia of theCzechRepublic. In southernBohemia and partly also in southernMoravia there is only a low and sporadic incidence. Naturally growing plums and myrobalans, and plums growing along roads were found to be the main sources and reservoirs of PPV infection. This high incidence in naturally growing plum and myrobalan trees makes it impossible to grow plum cultivars that are susceptible to PPV; only resistant cultivars can be grown in this country. In blackthorns the occurrence of PPV is limited to the regions with high and long-term presence of the virus. Therefore, we can conclude that blackthorn is not the primary, but a secondary source of PPV. On the other hand, sweet and sour cherries at localities of central and westernBohemia, and of southernMoravia are PPV-free. Till now the presence of strain PPV-C was not proved in theCzechRepublic. Strain PPV-M was proved only in two plum and one damson trees. It was also found in one apricot and one peach orchard planted with imported nursery material. Strain PPV-M appears to have been introduced recently and is absent from or has a very low incidence in spontaneous PPV hosts, while the widespread and long-term dissemination of strain PPV-D may indicate that it originated in the Czech Republic.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document