TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gisder, Sebastian
A1  - Schüler, Vivian
A1  - Horchler, Lennart L.
A1  - Groth, Detlef
A1  - Genersch, Elke
T1  - Long-Term Temporal Trends of Nosema spp. Infection Prevalence in Northeast Germany
BT  - Continuous Spread of Nosema ceranae, an Emerging Pathogen of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), but No General Replacement of Nosema apis
JF  - Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology
N2  - The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is widely used as commercial pollinator in worldwide agriculture and, therefore, plays an important role in global food security. Among the parasites and pathogens threatening health and survival of honey bees are two species of microsporidia, Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Nosema ceranae is considered an emerging pathogen of the Western honey bee. Reports on the spread of N. ceranae suggested that this presumably highly virulent species is replacing its more benign congener N. apis in the global A. mellifera population. We here present a 12 year longitudinal cohort study on the prevalence of N. apis and N. ceranae in Northeast Germany. Between 2005 and 2016, a cohort of about 230 honey bee colonies originating from 23 apiaries was sampled twice a year (spring and autumn) resulting in a total of 5,600 bee samples which were subjected to microscopic and molecular analysis for determining the presence of infections with N. apis or/and N. ceranae. Throughout the entire study period, both N. apis- and N. ceranae-infections could be diagnosed within the cohort. Logistic regression analysis of the prevalence data demonstrated a significant increase of N. ceranae-infections over the last 12 years, both in autumn (reflecting the development during the summer) and in spring (reflecting the development over winter) samples. Cell culture experiments confirmed that N. ceranae has a higher proliferative potential than N. apis at 27. and 33 degrees C potentially explaining the increase in N. ceranae prevalence during summer. In autumn, characterized by generally low infection prevalence, this increase was accompanied by a significant decrease in N. apis- infection prevalence. In contrast, in spring, the season with a higher prevalence of infection, no significant decrease of N. apis infections despite a significant increase in N. ceranae infections could be observed. Therefore, our data do not support a general advantage of N. ceranae over N. apis and an overall replacement of N. apis by N. ceranae in the studied honey bee population.
KW  - honey bee
KW  - Apis mellifera
KW  - Nosema spp.
KW  - epidemiology
KW  - replacement
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00301
SN  - 2235-2988
VL  - 7
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schatz, J.
A1  - Ohlendorf, B.
A1  - Busse, P.
A1  - Pelz, G.
A1  - Dolch, D.
A1  - Teubner, J.
A1  - Encarnacao, Jorge A.
A1  - Muehle, Ralf -Udo
A1  - Fischer, M.
A1  - Hoffmann, B.
A1  - Kwasnitschka, L.
A1  - Balkema-Buschmann, Anne
A1  - Mettenleiter, Thomas Christoph
A1  - Mueller, T.
A1  - Freuling, C. M.
T1  - Twenty years of active bat rabies surveillance in Germany
BT  - a detailed analysis and future perspectives
JF  - Epidemiology and infection
N2  - In Germany, active bat rabies surveillance was conducted between 1993 and 2012. A total of 4546 oropharyngeal swab samples from 18 bat species were screened for the presence of EBLV-1- , EBLV-2- and BBLV-specific RNA. Overall, 0 center dot 15% of oropharyngeal swab samples tested EBLV-1 positive, with the majority originating from Eptesicus serotinus. Interestingly, out of seven RT-PCR-positive oropharyngeal swabs subjected to virus isolation, viable virus was isolated from a single serotine bat (E. serotinus). Additionally, about 1226 blood samples were tested serologically, and varying virus neutralizing antibody titres were found in at least eight different bat species. The detection of viral RNA and seroconversion in repeatedly sampled serotine bats indicates long-term circulation of the virus in a particular bat colony. The limitations of random-based active bat rabies surveillance over passive bat rabies surveillance and its possible application of targeted approaches for future research activities on bat lyssavirus dynamics and maintenance are discussed.
KW  - surveillance
KW  - epidemiology
KW  - Bat rabies
KW  - lyssavirus
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268813002185
SN  - 0950-2688
SN  - 1469-4409
VL  - 142
IS  - 6
SP  - 1155
EP  - 1166
PB  - Cambridge Univ. Press
CY  - New York
ER  -