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R Zellmer

Publications and source records attributed to R Zellmer.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Experimental infection of European wild boars and domestic pigs with pseudorabies viruses with differing virulence.

OBJECTIVE: To determine susceptibility of European wild boars (Sus scrofa) to infection with pseudorabies virus (PrV) and to characterize the virulence of a wildboar PrV isolate for wild and domestic pigs. ANIMALS: 18 wild boars and 16 domestic pigs. PROCEDURE: Three groups of 4 wild boars were inoculated with PrV Bartha, Kaplan, and a wild-boar isolate (BFW1) and housed with uninfected pigs. Two groups of domestic pigs (4 and 8 pigs/group, respectively) were inoculated with various doses of BFW1. Animals were observed daily for clinical signs, and samples were tested for PrV excretion and homologous antibodies. After reactivation of latent infection by induced immunosuppression, PrV was detected in tissues of necropsied animals, using cell culture and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Clinical signs depended on virulence of the PrV strain and dose of inoculum. Only infection with PrV Kaplan resulted in severe disease and death. Virus was isolated from nasal and genital swab specimens. Antibodies were first detected on day 7 after inoculation; a specific humoral immune response was delayed in BFW1-infected animals. Virus was isolated from various tissues of Kaplan-infected wild boars, whereas mainly viral DNA was detected in a few tissues of Bartha- and BFW1-infected animals, using PCR after immunosuppression. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: European wild boars are susceptible to transmission of PrV infection from domestic pigs and vice-versa. The PrV isolate BFW1 is of low virulence and seems to be adapted to the wild boar population from which it was isolated.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Characterisation of pseudorabies virus isolated from wild boar (Sus scrofa).

Seroepidemiological evidence had suggested that pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) virus (PrV) infections occur in the European wild boar population in eastern Germany, although attempts to isolate the causative agent had failed. In 1995 and 1996, five virus isolates were recovered from latently infected wild boar originating from two regions where the disease was endemic. The isolates were identified as PrV by immunofluorescence and neutralisation with specific sera and grouped as PrV type I. Compared with reference strains and PrV isolates obtained from domestic animals in the same region, considerable differences in the DNA patterns were detected. In particular, two additional larger BamHI-DNA fragments migrating in agarose gel electrophoresis between fragments 3 and 4 were observed, accompanied by the loss of fragments 5, 10 and 12. Southern blot hybridisation with fragment-specific DNA probes identified the larger fragments as fusions of BamHI-fragments 5 and 10, and 5 and 12, respectively, due to a loss of a BamHI-site in the inverted repeat regions. This distinctive fragment pattern has so far not been observed in PrV isolates from domestic pigs in Germany.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Coccidioides immitis presenting as a mycelial pathogen with empyema and hydropneumothorax.

A previously healthy Caucasian male developed hydropneumothorax and a pleural peel filled with pleomorphic, septate hyphae. The only organism grown from cultures of the lung and pleural fluid was Coccidioides immitis, confirmed by exoantigen testing. Spherule-endospore forms were produced, however, following injection of the arthroconidial tissue isolate into BALB/c mice. The patient had a positive immunodiffusion complement-fixation test and developed a positive coccidioidin skin test during therapy. He recovered following thoracotomy and wedge resection of the ruptured coccidioidal cavity, and therapy with amphotericin B followed by fluconazole. The sole presence of the mycelial form of the dimorphic fungus C. immitis in the pleural space may have been due to a low CO2 partial pressure at that site secondary to a bronchopleural fistula. The case shows a distinctive and uncommon presentation of coccidioidomycosis which demonstrates the specificity of both the immunodiffusion complement-fixation assay in diagnosing this disease and the exoantigen test in confirming culture results.

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