1
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Speaker(s):
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Lu-Jen, Ting
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Topic
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The Survey of Bluetongue virus in Wild Birds
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Abstract
The current project aims to incorporate the samples collected for a previous avian influenza surveillance project with the Bluetongue virus (BTV) research. The detection rates of BTV from the fecal of wild bird samples assembled between 2006 and 2008 using the RT-PCR test were found to be 0.15% (7/4,541), 0.34% (14/4,093), and 0.38% (12/3,163) respectively. The major bird species that were tested positive were Anatidae, Charadriiformes and Ardeidae. Only two BTV viruses were isolated from the 33 RT-PCR positive samples. The full length of the L2 gene of these two isolates, named WB989 and WB990, were in turn sequenced and compared for the phylogenetic association with the sequences of BTV isolates published in Genbank. It was established that these isolates clearly belong to serotype 2 and bear the closest genetic relationship to KM strain, sharing up to 100% nucleotide sequence homology. Partial sequence analysis of the NS3 of these 33 positive fecal samples, KM strain, and PT strain for comparison was also performed, which yielded two clades. Among them, 4 fecal samples were identified of having only 85.4-86.1% similarity with Taiwanese strains.
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2
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Speaker(s):
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Shu-Chun, Chiu
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Topic
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Study on the Pathogenesis and Development of the Vaccine for Porcine Teschovirus
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Abstract
The Teschen-Talfan disease is also known as Teschen disease, poliomyelitis suum or porcine enterovirus encephalomyelitis. The disease was initially observed in Czechoslovakia in 1929, and is caused by certain strains of porcine teschoviruses (PTV) classified to the family of Picornaviridae. They can inflict severe nervous lesions occurred in the brainstem of the infected animal from the hypothalamus through the medulla, but decrease in intensity and diffuse down its spinal cord. In the case of Enterovirus encephalomyelitis of pigs occurred in Japan in 2002, as no PTV was isolated from the cerebrum or spinal cord of infected animals, whereas PTV was isolated from a clinically normal piglet, it suggests that many infections with this virus are asymptomatic and the epidemiology and mechanism of the neurovirulence of PTV still requires careful identification. In Taiwan, PTV-1s were isolated and identified from the clinical cases submitted to Animal Health Research Institute in the years of 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively. Such results provide a clear indication that teschovirus infection may have occurred widely in the pig population of Taiwan. To contain infection and its spread, we designed a study in which experiments were conducted to map the pathogenesis of porcine teschovirus. Through this study, we also seek to understand the localization of PTV-1 by using RT-PCR as well as IHC methods, which may help shed light on the cause of this deadly infection. For developing effective vaccine, we realized that we should focus on the various pathways of DNA synthesis that may be operative inside an intact cell.
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3
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Speaker(s):
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Chen-Shen, Huang
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Topic
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The seroprevalence of paratuberculosis in Taiwan
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Abstract
paratuberculosis (MAP) is a subspecies of Mycobacterium avium; it can cause paratuberculosis or Johne’s disease, an intestinal granulomatous infection which is responsible for a protein leak and a protein malabsorption syndrome. To diagnose the presence of paratuberculosis, a number of laboratory tests can be used including: fecal smears, fecal and tissue culture, DNA probes using feces or tissues, serology, necropsy, and histology. The serological tests commonly used for paratuberculosis are complement fixation (CF), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID). For the present study, a total of 2,010 sera samples from 67 dairy farms in four areas of Taiwan were collected in 2008. The sera were tested for the presence of antibodies against MAP using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results show that the seroprevalence of MAP in dairy cattle was 9.35%(188/2010), and 76.12%(51/67) of the dairy herds tested included at least one positive cattle.
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