Sturgeon aquaculture is economically important in many countries, for both meat and caviar production. Sturgeon is the common name for 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. Among them, only the sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) and the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) completes the lifecycle in fresh water. In Serbia, in the last few years, aquaculture enterprises have shown more interest in farming these fish species. Also, the importance of sturgeon aquaculture grows due to the rapid decrease of wild populations caused by overfishing, water pollution and destruction of habitat. The development of sturgeon aquaculture activities has been accompanied by the disease outbreaks, and possibility of the emergence and rapid dissemination of several infectious disease agents may represent serious problem in sturgeon aquaculture. Several viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic diseases have been reported worldwide. Due to the limited knowledge about epizootiology and disease control methods, infectious diseases may represent a major challenge in sturgeon aquaculture. Moreover, none of the diseases reported in sturgeon are regulated in the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) or European Union (EU) legislations. Due to the increasing interest in sturgeon aquaculture in Serbia present study is focused on the most important pathogens that may represent a threat to sturgeon aquaculture in Serbia.

The paper describes an illness of one-year rainbow trout fry that was characterized by gastroenteritis and progressively high mortality, but which did not indicate a typical bacterial infection; and a clinical illness of cyprinids that indicated typical acute bacterial septicemia caused by Gram-negative bacteria. These diseases of rainbow trout and cyprinids were caused by the Gram-negative motile bacterium Citrobacter freundii. Cultures of Citrobacter freundii were isolated and identified on the basis of key phenotypic characters and with the aid of the Api 20 E system. Pathohistological examination confirmed inflammatory changes in the intestine of rainbow trout; and inflammatory and necrotic changes in the internal organs of cyprinids. We were able to reproduce the illness by means of artificial infection with a pure culture of Citrobacter freundii. This is the first published report confirming Citrobacter freundii as a cause of fish disease in Serbia

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Considering the intensive trading nowadays, the honey from the local market was tested for the presence of the six most common bee viruses. To prove the suitability of honey as a sample for the bee viruses detection, the set of different sample types taken directly from the hives we comparatively tested. The study included 30 samples of domestic and 5 samples of imported honey. Additionally, we tested 40 sets of samples including live bees, dead bees, and the honey taken from four apiaries for the evaluation of honey suitability for the virus detection, Two out of the six most common bee viruses were detected in the samples of honey from the market. Black queen cell virus (BQCV) genome was found in 24 domestic honey samples and Kashmir bee virus (KBV) genome was detected in one sample of imported honey. The nucleotide sequences of 24 BQCV isolates showed the highest identity (86.4%) with strains from Europe at the polyprotein gene, whilst the Serbian isolates between each other showed 98.5% similarity. By comparative testing of the different type of samples, in three out of four apiaries BQCV genome was detected in both bees and honey. Evaluating the suitability of honey for the detection of the viral disease by simultaneous testing of live, dead bees, and honey from the same hive, it was shown that the honey can be successfully used for the detection of BQCV. Since, as of yet, there has been no evidence of KBV circulation in Serbia, after its detection in imported honey, there is a substantial risk of its introduction and consequently the need for its surveillance. Therefore, the programs of bee diseases screening should be included in the regular control procedures for the international trade. In addition to this benefit, honey gives an opportunity to beekeepers for continuous monitoring of bees’ health status.

The presence of pseudorabies virus (PrV), porcine parvovirus (PPV) and porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) was examined in sixty samples (spleen and lymph nodes) and thirty samples of sacral ganglia collected from non-vaccinated swine by virus isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Using PCR method PrV was detected in three samples, PPV in seven samples and six samples were found positive for PCV2. The phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of three PrV isolates identifi ed in this study showed high similarity and signifi cant clustering within the PrV genotype I strains such as Kaplan and Bartha isolated from pigs in Hungary, strain Becker isolated in USA and strain Kolchis isolated in Greece. The nucleotide sequences of two PPV isolates showed high level of similarity with the strain Challenge isolated from pigs in UK, strain Kresse isolated in USA and strains 77 and LZ isolated in China. The phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of two PCV2 isolates showed high level of similarity and signifi cant clustering within genotype PCV2b strains such as NIVS-3, NIVS-5 and NIVS-6 isolated in Serbia, strain 3959 isolated in Austria, strain PM165 isolated from pigs in Brasil, and strain XT2008 isolated in China. The results of our study present the molecular characterization of PrV, PPV and PCV2 identifi ed in swine in Republic of Montenegro. Besides that, these results confi rmed that PCR is a very useful method for rapid detection of these viruses in subclinically infected swine.