ABSTRACTBacterial isolates from frogs were phenotypically identified asOchrobactrum anthropi, but 16S rRNA sequencing showed up to 100% identity withBrucella inopinata. Further analysis ofrecA,omp2a,omp2b,bcsp31, and IS711and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) verified a close relationship withBrucella, suggesting the isolates may actually represent novel members of this growing genus of zoonotic pathogens.

A natural reassortant influenza A virus consisting of seven genome segments from pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus and a neuraminidase segment from a Eurasian porcine H1N1 influenza A virus was detected in a pig herd in Germany. The obvious reassortment compatibility between the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 and H1N1 viruses of porcine origin raises concern as to whether swine may become a reservoir for further reassortants of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 viruses with unknown implications for human health and swine production.

Escherichia coli (STEC) in healthy dairy ruminants was investigated between 1996 and 1998 by a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) technique. A total of 13 552 E. coli colonies from 726 cows, 28 sheep and 93 goats out of 112 randomly selected dairy farms in Hessia, Germany were analysed. STEC strains were recovered from 131 (18Á0%) cows, nine (32Á1%) sheep and 70 (75Á3%) goats. Further characterization of the STEC isolates showed that 89 (0Á66% of the investigated colonies) of animal ®eld strains carried stx1 gene, 64 (0Á47%) stx2 gene and 57 (0Á42%) stx1 and stx2 gene. Sixty (93Á8%) out of 64 stx2 ®eld strains were harboured by cows. In contrast, 74 (83Á1%) out of 89 stx1 dairy animal ®eld strains were from ovine or caprine origin. Only 17 (8Á1%) stxpositive isolates (13 from cattle, three from sheep and only one from goat) were positive for eaeA gene. Eight (9Á0%) of the stx1, ®ve (7Á8%) of the stx2 and four (7Á0%) of the stx1/stx2 gene-positive ®eld strains carried the eaeA gene. The prevalence of EHEC-haemolysin (EHEC-hlyA) gene sequence was 88Á8% (79 isolates) of the stx1 and 68Á8% (44 isolates) of the stx2 isolates. Out of 57 stx1-and stx2-positive ®eld-strains, 34 (59Á6%) carried the EHEC-hlyA gene. E. coli O serovars O:157 and O:111 were not found. Only one isolate was positive with O26 antiserum.

Mosquito-borne viruses are becoming an increasing threat for Europe. One of these viruses is Usutu virus (USUV), a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Japanese encephalitis virus group within the family Flaviviridae. Since the occurrence of USUV among wild birds in June, 2011, infected Blackbirds (Turdus merula) have frequently been found dead in southwest Germany, cumulating in a massive die-off. Moreover, other bird species (Strigiformes) in this region have been affected. In a first study, 209 of over 600 dead birds (wild birds and birds kept in aviaries) collected from 2011 to 2013 carried USUV, more than 88% of them Blackbirds. USUV had already been detected in 2010, one year before the epizooty, in a mosquito-based surveillance program in Germany. The main epidemic area of the USUV outbreak in wild birds in southwest Germany has been similar for the last three years. In a second study during 2011 to 2013, 902 live migratory and resident birds (representing 87 bird species belonging to 14 bird orders) from four different sampling sites were bled and tested serologically and by qPCR for West Nile virus (WNV) and USUV infections. No USUV or WNV genomes were detected. Some migratory birds (mainly long-distance migrants and some partial migrants) carried neutralizing antibodies against WNV as discriminated by USUV and WNV cross-neutralization tests. Only few resident birds showed relevant USUV-specific neutralizing antibodies. The occurrence of USUV in the Upper Rhine valley area of southwest Germany is a proof of principle for the incursion and spread of other arthropod-borne (arbo)-viruses along these routes. Therefore, monitoring studies in birds and mosquitoes for the presence of arboviruses in these areas are indispensable.

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