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A six year old male iguana (Iguana iguana) was brought to our clinic after a fall from a height of 1.5 meters. The patient showed apathy, dehydration, and paresis of all the limbs. Postural reflexes, palpebral reflex, and response to painful stimuli were minimal. The patient had extremely high levels of uric acid (1 734.0 µmol/l) and phosphorus (9.80 mmol/l), ratio of calcium to phosphorus (0.18), leucocytosis (23.3×10⁹/l) with heterophilia (17.10×10⁹/l), and high activity of ALT, AST and CK (2.09, 6.59, and 260.0 µkat/l). Tracheoscopy and pneumoscopy revealed presence of blood clots in the trachea and lungs with haemorrhage within the parenchyma. Based on the results of the clinical examination, endoscopy and laboratory diagnostics, the clinical diagnosis was chronic kidney failure, liver lipidosis and lung haemorrhage. Because of a very poor prognosis, the patient was euthanised. At necropsy, the signs of visceral gout and hepatomegaly with diffuse yellowish white discoloration and with dotted brown pigmentation were also observed. The kidneys were enlarged, and stained brown grayish. The gross and histopathological examination confirmed the clinical diagnosis of visceral gout, chronic kidney failure, liver steatosis and granulomatous pneumonia, with lung haemorrhage associated with urate deposits in lung tissue and posttraumatic status.

Ninety-three rectal swabs of lambs and young goats from two extensively and two intensively managed herds in Jordanwere taken and examined for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). The bacteriological examination included the preenrichment of rectal swabs in EC broth with novobiocin, and a subsequent parallel isolation on enterohemolysin agar and immunomagnetic separation with cultivation on CT-SMAC. The STEC O157:H7 strains were demonstrated in 8 of 32 diarrheic lambs 1- to 3-weeks old in one sheep herd with intensive milk production. In the remaining three herds, serogroups O128, O78, O15 and serotype O128:K85 of STEC strains were the most frequent findings. The presence of stx2, ehlyA and eaeA genes in all STEC O157:H7 isolates was confirmed by PCR. In two untypable STEC isolates, stx2 and ehlyA genes were detected. In other STEC non-O157 isolates, only stx1 a ehlyA genes were found. All STEC O157:H7 isolates were resistant against sulphonamides and chloramphenicol, five were also resistant against ampicillin and streptomycin, one against co-trimoxazole. One isolate was resistant against ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, cephalosporins (cefazolin, cefuroxime), monobactams (aztreonam), sulphonamides, co-trimoxazole, aminoglycosides, tetracycline and chloramphenicol. Compared the resistant STEC O157:H7 isolates, the multiresistant isolate had a different RAPD pattern. Of 36 STEC non-O157 isolates, one isolate was resistant against sulphonamides and co-trimoxazole, and another one against ampicillin, streptomycin, sulphonamides and co-trimoxazole. STEC isolates resistant against antimicrobial agents were demonstrated only in herds with intensive management.

Fifty one products of dried milk baby food purchased from 10 producers from seven countries available on the Czech market have been tested. IS900, the specific fragments for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) have been detected using PCR in 25 samples (49.0 %) and fragment f57 by real time PCR in 18 samples (35.3%). These results correspond to the epidemiological situation in Europe and are not unexpected. Paratuberculosis in cattle was almost unknown in the Czech Republic until 1990. An increase in the number of cows with paratuberculosis found in slaughterhouses and the incidence of Crohn's disease in the last decade is evident. The possible risk of MAP dead cells or bacterial structures in food is discussed in respect to autoimmune Crohn's disease. The national programmes of paratuberculosis control and certification of paratuberculosis-free herds should be strongly supported to decrease the risk for children and other people under higher risk. Producers should use MAP free milk for baby food production on a voluntary basis.

"Emergency Control of Transboundary Diseases of Livestock in Southern and Eastern Europe", approved in the year 2000 and implemented from September 2001 the CENTAUR is expected to expand significantly. The major objective of this training Regional Project will be to strengthen the national and regional capacities to respond to transboundary animal disease emergencies through technology transfer in the fields of diagnostics, epidemiology and emergency preparedness. The following countries are included in the Project: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina (the Federation and the Serbian Republic), Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey. Southern and Eastern Europe are the strategically important areas especially exposed to Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs). The CENTAUR's main task is to facilitate contacts with international centers of excellence and international organizations in order to achieve full compatibility with OIE and EU standards regarding disease control methods. The first CENTAUR Countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have been CENTAUR members since 1997 following the implementation of the previous FAO TCP Project. From the Baltic countries: Lithuania has recently joined the network and Latvia and Estonia have been encouraged to do so. Also the CENTAUR was joined by the Member: Sankt Petersburg Academy of Veterinary Medicine, Russian Federation (2001). It is expected that the Countries and subscribers of the CENTAUR NEWS FLASH INFO published by the Veterinary Research Institute, Brno will play an active role regarding the dissemination of scientific/professional information, regional cooperation and training. Four workshops to be held and other activities proposed in the project are described. Emergency control of transboundary diseases of livestock in Southern and Eastern Europe

101 samples of faeces, colonic mucosa and rectal swabs taken from 100 pigs (29 commercial herds) were cultivated on Trypticase Soy Agar with 5% of sheep blood, spectinomycin (200 mg/l), vancomycin (50 mg/l), rifampicin (12.5 mg/l) and colistin (12.5 mg/l). Plates were incubated in an anaerobic container at 37°C for 5-7 days. 25 samples (10 faeces, 15 scrapings of colonic mucosa) were examined by darkfield microscopy for the presence of spirochaetes. In 80 samples (21 faeces, 31 rectal swabs, 28 scrapings of colonic mucosa) from diarrhoeic pigs 44 isolates of spirochaetes were identified by PCR method as Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. In 21 samples (20 rectal swabs, 1 scraping of colonic mucosa) taken from apparently healthy pigs in herds with swine dysentery were isolated weakly haemolytic spirochaetes: B. intermedia in 5 samples and phenotypic group III brachyspirae in 4 samples. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of tylosin, tiamulin and valnemulin was determined by the agar dilution method. To tylosin 16 out of 17 strains of B. hyodysenteriae were resistant (MIC 64 and 256 µg/l), one strain was susceptible (MIC l µg/ml). To tiamulin 17 out of 19 strains were susceptible (MIC from 0.016 to 0.25 µg/ml), one strain was intermediately susceptible (MIC 2 µg/ml) and one resistant (MIC 32 µg/ml). To valnemulin 17 out of 19 strains were susceptible (MIC from 0.016 to 0.064 µg/ml), one strain was intermediately susceptible (MIC2µg/ml) and one was resistant (MIC 8 µg/ml). Valnemulin resistant strain was also resistant to tiamulin.