The objective of the study was to determine the immunostimulatory effect of β-(1,3/1,6)-D-glucan in puppies. The effect exerted on the efficacy of vaccination, especially against canine parvovirus and rabies infection, was studied. The application of vaccine and glucan leads to significant increases in the nonspecific immunological parameters (phagocytic ability of leukocytes, blastogenic response of lymphocytes, metabolic and chemotactic activity of polymorphonuclear cells). The level of antibodies against canine parvovirus (Ab CPV) and rabies infection reached the most statistically significant values on the 28th day after the application of vaccine and a syrup containing β-(1,3/1,6)-D-glucan (Group GV) as compared to the control group (Group V, puppies receiving only vaccine). Dogs without glucan supplementation did not produce such significant levels of antibodies. We can conclude that glucan has relevant immunostimulatory effects in dogs with altered immunity. The glucan product tested in this study (PleraSAN V, PLEURAN, Bratislava, Slovakia) could be used in the small animal clinical practice.

The authors verified the possibility of antioxidative protection of squalene adjuvant emulsions by the antioxidants α-tocopherol and β-carotene. They determined the influence of β-carotene on the stability and antigenic effectiveness of adjuvant emulsion in combination with rabies vaccine. The composition of the adjuvant emulsions or vaccines was: 2.5% squalene; 6% detergents; 0.5% antioxidant; 91% water phase. The oxidative injury after UV-irradiation was followed by the detection of the peroxide value of the emulsions. The stability of the emulsions was evaluated by the determination of the emulsion's particle size. The level of rabies antibodies (RAB) in mice sera until day 90 after vaccination, was determined by the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test. In the in vitro system of squalene adjuvant, α-tocopherol acted as a prooxidant, while β-carotene effectively reduced the oxidative injury. The homogenization of the squalene adjuvant during a prolonged period from 8 to 10 min did not change the particle size. The oxidation processes were efficiently reduced by β-carotene during the preparation process and also during the 70-d storage. The vaccine with β-carotene induced a gradual increase in the RAB levels with the highest value on day 28. While the inactivated rabies vaccine with adjuvant without β-carotene developed a rapid formation of RAB, the application of the vaccine with β-carotene induced a slower but more uniform production of RAB. The level of RAB was significantly higher after the application of the vaccine with β-carotene and reached the protective value of 0.5 IU/mL, in contrast to the vaccine without β-carotene.

Current taxonomical keys are essential for better biodiversity knowledge. Moreover, accurate identification of groups of organisms known to act as disease vectors is vital in today’s world of change and the spread of zoonotic disease threats. This is especially relevant to bats and their parasites, given the events of recent years. The available keys of European Nycteribiidae (Diptera) are outdated and do not cover all the species currently known from Europe. Therefore, a summary key of 16 European species is provided in this paper. Based on published data from Europe, a total of 173 host–parasite interactions were observed between 16 European bat fly species and 31 host species (bats). The highest number of associations with different host species and the lowest specialization was observed in Penicillidia (P.) dufourii dufourii, followed by Nycteribia (N.) kolenatii, N. (N.) schmidlii and Phthiridium biarticulatum; most of the other species also had low specialization. Most species are oligoxenous, parasitizing on several families, and three species are stenoxenosus. Only one nycteribiid species, Basilia daganiae, was linked with only one host (Pipistrellus kuhlii). Myotis myotis has 12 associations with different bat fly species, followed by Plecotus auritus and Myotis daubentonii with 12 associations. A relatively high number of bat species were associated with only one bat fly species. In addition, we performed a bipartite analysis complemented by network indices and host specificity at the species and whole network levels, yielding new information in terms of ecology and the host–parasite relationships related to these groups of potential vectors (Nycteribiidae) and sources of zoonoses (bats). The parasite–host network composed of 16 nycteribiid species and 31 bat host species was characterized by a low network level specialization, low modularity, and low nestedness. Our findings also suggest a high probability of associated Nycteribiidae in bat taxa with a similar roosting ecology and phylogenetic relationship.

Coxiella burnetii is a worldwide zoonotic pathogen causing Q fever in various animal species and humans. In Slovakia, cases of C. burnetii infection in both animals and humans are confirmed every year. The role of horses in the epidemiology of this neglected disease is still unclear. In our study, we focused on a serosurvey of C. burnetii in the equine population in Slovakia by the ELISA method. Subsequently, a nested PCR was performed to detect the 16S rRNA fragment of the genus Coxiella. Among 184 horse sera, the presence of specific antibodies to C. burnetii was detected in four samples, representing a 2.17% seropositivity. All the positive horses were mares; two originated from Central Slovakia and two from Eastern Slovakia. Although the number of positive samples was too small for a determination of statistical significance, our results provide the first confirmation of antibodies to C. burnetii in horses from Slovakia. Although no positive PCR result was obtained, these serological findings may help to clarify the circulation of the pathogen in the environment.

In the presented work, we compared the results of determination of rabies antibodies using three in vitro methods: rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT), fluorescent antibody virus neutralisation test (FAVNT) and the immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA). 196 dog sera samples were examined with FAVNT, RFFIT methods and the ELISA test. Sera with low and sufficiently high titre of antibodies had a similar result in determining by all methods. A critical level of rabies antibodies close to the required protection level (0.5 IU/cm³) was seen in sera of 18 dogs (9.18%); these were the sera obtained after primary vaccination of dogs. At this level, even small differences can cause a change in the assessment of the patient's serum seronegativity or seropositivity. Therefore, it is important to choose the appropriate method that has sufficiently strict criteria while having a good reproducibility.