The aim of this study was to examine the occurrence of bacterial, mycoplasmal and viral pathogens in the lower respiratory tract of calves in all-in all-out calf-rearing units. According to clinical status, non-medicated calves with and without respiratory disease signs were selected of the 40 herds investigated to analyse the micro-organisms present in healthy and diseased calves. Tracheobronchial lavage (TBL) and paired serum samples were analysed for bacteria, mycoplasmas, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza virus 3 (PIV3), bovine corona virus (BCV) and bovine adenovirus (BAV). Pasteurella multocida was the most common bacterial pathogen. It was isolated from 34% of the TBL samples in 28 herds and was associated with clinical respiratory disease (p < 0.05) when other pathogenic bacteria or mycoplasma were present in the sample. Mannheimia spp. and Histophilus somni were rarely found. Mycoplasma bovis was not detected at all. Ureaplasma diversum was associated with clinical respiratory disease (p < 0.05). TBL samples from healthy or suspect calves were more often negative in bacterial culture than samples from diseased calves (p < 0.05). No viral infections were detected in six herds, while 16-21 herds had RSV, BCV, BAV or PIV3. In the herds that had calves seroconverted to BCV, respiratory shedding of BCV was more frequently observed than faecal shedding. This study showed that the microbial combinations behind BRD were diverse between herds. M. bovis, an emerging pathogen in many countries, was not detected.

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.

Bovine acute phase proteins (APPs), lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp) and alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP) were evaluated as inflammatory markers during an outbreak of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) caused by bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV). Calves (n = 10) presented mild to moderate signs of respiratory disease. Secondary bacterial infections, Pasteurella multocida and Mycoplasma dispar as major species, were detected in tracheobronchial lavage samples. Concentrations of SAA and LBP increased at week 1 had the highest values at week 3 and decreased at week 4 of outbreak. Some calves had high Hp concentrations at week 3, but AGP concentrations did not rise during respiratory disease. Higher SAA, LBP and Hp concentrations at a later stage of BRD (week 3) were associated with the low BRSV-specific IgG(1) production, suggesting that these calves had enhanced inflammatory response to the secondary bacterial infection. In conclusion, APPs (especially SAA and LBP) are sensitive markers of respiratory infection, and they may be useful to explore host response to the respiratory infections in clinical research.

a b s t r a c tA nationwide seroepidemiological study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in selected wild and domestic ruminants in Finland. Serum samples from 1367 game cervids collected during the hunting season in 2008-2009 and 1940 sheep sera collected in 2008 were screened with a commercial direct agglutination test at a serum dilution of 1:40. T. gondii-specific IgG antibodies were detected in 116 (9.6%) of 1215 moose (European elk, Alces alces), 36 (26.7%) of 135 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), 3 (17.6%) of 17 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and 477 (24.6%) of 1940 domestic sheep. Seropositive sheep were found in 74 (76.3%) of the 97 flocks examined. The odds of seropositivity in the adult moose was 2.9 times higher than the odds in calves; in white-tailed deer, the odds ratio was 3.2. The male moose had a significantly lower seroprevalence than the female, whereas the seroprevalence in the male white-tailed deer was higher than in the female; the odds ratios were 0.6 and 2.5, respectively. A clear geographical gradient in the seroprevalence was revealed in moose and sheep. The seroprevalences were lowest (1.6 and 8.6%, respectively) in the north and highest (24.6 and 36.4%, respectively) in the south-western regions, and ranged between these values in the other regions. In fact, the seroprevalence in moose from the south-west was not significantly different from the prevalence in white-tailed deer from the same area. Thus, the Finnish wild cervids and sheep are commonly exposed to T. gondii, especially in the southern part of the country.

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