Canine distemper reappeared in dogs in Finland in 1990 after a 16-year absence. In 1994 to 1995 an outbreak occurred in areas with a high density dog population which involved dogs vaccinated against distemper. The estimated total number of cases was at least 5000, and 865 cases were confirmed by indirect fluorescent antibody testing of 3649 epithelial cell samples. The signs recorded by veterinary clinicians ranged from conjunctivitis, pyrexia and anorexia to signs of respiratory and gastrointestinal illness, with an estimated mortality of 30 per cent. Of the confirmed cases 631 (73 per cent) were between three and 24 months of age; 487 of these had been vaccinated at least once and 351 (41 per cent) had a complete vaccination history. Of these 351 fully vaccinated animals the proportion of dogs vaccinated with the most popular vaccine was significantly higher than would have been expected by its market share. In total, 4676 serum samples were collected from healthy vaccinated dogs during the peak and decline of the outbreak and tested for the presence of virus neutralising antibodies. The decrease in the proportion of young dogs with antibody titres < 1/8 coincided with the decline and end of the outbreak during the spring and summer of 1995. It was concluded that a critical decrease in the population's immunity during 1990 to 1994 was a major reason for the outbreak in the summer of 1994 and that the ultimate test for vaccines is an outbreak of disease.

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e Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious, severe disease of poultry caused by pathogenic strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV; or avian paramyxovirus-1). NDV is endemic in wild birds worldwide and one of the economically most important poultry pathogens. Most of the published strains are outbreak-associated strains, while the apathogenic NDV strains that occur in wild birds, posing a constant threat to poultry with their capability to convert into more virulent forms, have remained less studied. We screened for NDV RNA in cloacal and oropharyngeal samples from wild waterfowl in Finland during the years 2006 to 2010: 39 of 715 birds were positive (prevalence, 5.5%). The partial or full-length F genes of 37 strains were sequenced for phylogenetic purposes. We also characterized viruses derived from three NDV outbreaks in Finland and discuss the relationships between these outbreak-associated and the wild-bird-associated strains. We found that all waterfowl NDV isolates were lentogenic strains of class I or class II genotype I. We also isolated a genetically distinct class I strain (teal/Finland/13111/2008) grouping phylogenetically together with only strain HIECK87191, isolated in Northern Ireland in 1987. Together they seem to form a novel class I genotype genetically differing from other known NDVs by at least 12%.

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Eight strains of avian paramyxovirus type 1 (PMV-1) isolated in Finland during the last 3 decades were studied with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and subsequent sequence analysis of the region of 208 nucleotides covering the fusion (F) protein cleavage site. Both genetic and antigenic heterogeneity of the strains was significant. Direct epidemiological links between strains isolated during successive outbreaks, and also between strains isolated from wild fauna and from poultry or captive birds, were seen in this study. These results also support the previously published view that wild waterfowl serve as a reservoir for the apathogenic or low-pathogenic strains, allowing them to evolve further into pathogenic strains.

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BackgroundIn 1985, a bat researcher in Finland died of rabies encephalitis caused by European bat lyssavirus type 2 (EBLV-2), but an epidemiological study in 1986 did not reveal EBLV-infected bats. In 2009, an EBLV-2-positive Daubenton’s bat was detected. The EBLV-2 isolate from the human case in 1985 and the isolate from the bat in 2009 were genetically closely related. In order to assess the prevalence of EBLVs in Finnish bat populations and to gain a better understanding of the public health risk that EBLV-infected bats pose, a targeted active surveillance project was initiated.ResultsAltogether, 1156 bats of seven species were examined for lyssaviruses in Finland during a 28–year period (1985–2012), 898 in active surveillance and 258 in passive surveillance, with only one positive finding of EBLV-2 in a Daubenton’s bat in 2009. In 2010–2011, saliva samples from 774 bats of seven species were analyzed for EBLV viral RNA, and sera from 423 bats were analyzed for the presence of bat lyssavirus antibodies. Antibodies were detected in Daubenton’s bats in samples collected from two locations in 2010 and from one location in 2011. All seropositive locations are in close proximity to the place where the EBLV-2 positive Daubenton’s bat was found in 2009. In active surveillance, no EBLV viral RNA was detected.ConclusionsThese data suggest that EBLV-2 may circulate in Finland, even though the seroprevalence is low. Our results indicate that passive surveillance of dead or sick bats is a relevant means examine the occurrence of lyssavirus infection, but the number of bats submitted for laboratory analysis should be higher in order to obtain reliable information on the lyssavirus situation in the country.

Background: Screening wild birds for viral pathogens has become increasingly important. We tested a screening approach based on blood and cloacal and tracheal swabs collected by hunters to study the prevalence of influenza A, paramyxo-, flavi-, and alphaviruses in Finnish wild waterfowl, which has been previously unknown. We studied 310 blood samples and 115 mixed tracheal and cloacal swabs collected from hunted waterfowl in 2006. Samples were screened by RT-PCR and serologically by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for influenza A (FLUAV), type 1 avian paramyxo-(APMV-1), Sindbis (SINV), West Nile (WNV) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBEV) virus infections.