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AbstractThe small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumidaMurray, native to sub-Saharan Africa, is a parasite of Apis melliferacausing significant damage to honey bee colonies. For the past decades, it has spread to many countries worldwide and once established, eradication is difficult or not feasible. In July 2022, an outbreak was reported for the first time in a French department in the Indian Ocean, Reunion Island. The origin and the pathway of the introduction were not identified. The molecular characterisation of SHB specimens collected in the southern part of the island, where the beetle has infested several apiaries, was investigated in order to provide elements on the invasive source. The sequencing of the partial Cytochrome oxidase I gene from two specimens showed that they belonged to the same new haplotype. Phylogenetic analysis suggests an introduction either from an unidentified African source or from the Asian continent since the haplotype is similar to those characterized from China and Philippines.

SummaryThe first detection of Aethina tumidaMurray (the small hive beetle) in Italy occurred on 5 September 2014. Three nuclei containing honey bees (Apis mellifera) and located in a clementine (citrus) orchard near an important international harbour in the Calabria region (southern Italy) were heavily infested with adult and larval A. tumida. A. tumidainfestation is a notifiable disease of honey bees in the European Union as well as an OIE listed disease. To prevent any A. tumidaintroduction, the importation of honey bees is regulated strictly in the European Union (Commission Regulation (EU) No. 206/2010). Early reaction measures adopted in Italy require that beekeepers must notify A. tumidadiscovery to the local veterinary services and cannot move their colonies. Furthermore, a protection area (20 km radius) and surveillance (100 km radius) zone should be established. The surveillance zone now includes the entire territory of Calabria region. Compulsory visits to all apiaries in the protection zone with the collection of the spatial information by means of a georeferentiation process (georeferentiation can be defined as the process to describe a location relative to the earth, in this context the process consists on the collection of the spatial coordinate of a point that represents the spatial location of the apiaries by means of a GPS device) and colony inspection according to 5% expected prevalence (95% CI) are applied. Destruction of infested apiaries is compulsory and the soil under the infested colonies must be ploughed and treated with pyrethroids. If apiaries in the protection zone are found to be negative, traps are placed. In the surveillance zone, veterinarians visit apiaries that are selected according to a risk analysis (migration in infested areas, honey bee or materials exchange) or randomly and colonies are inspected according to 2% expected prevalence (95% CI). Furthermore, in Italy as well in the rest of Europe, investigations are in progress by competent authorities to make an inventory of all bees and colonies moved from Calabria during 2014. Subsequent controls on colonies should be implemented. People from the honey bee network (beekeepers, veterinarians, beekeeping material producers and distributors) should be aware and informed of the hazard posed by A. tumidato honey bees.

Feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) is a coronavirus that induces a fatal systemic disease mediated by an inappropriate immune response. Most previous vaccination attempts against FIPV were unsuccessful because IgG antibodies against the surface protein enhance the infection. However, two studies have shown that poxvirus vectors (vaccinia WR and canarypox) expressing only the FIPV membrane (M) protein can elicit a partially protective immunity which is supposed to be cell-mediated (Virology 181 (1991) 327;International patent WO 97/20054 (1997)). In our study, we report the construction of another poxvirus, the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), as an expression vector for the FIPV M protein. In this vector, the M gene has been inserted downstream a strong early/late promoter, whereas the two previously described poxviruses expressed the M protein during their early stage only. The immunogenicity of the recombinant MVA-M was evaluated in the murine model which revealed an effect of the vector on the Th1/Th2 balance. The vaccine was then tested in cats to evaluate its efficacy in an FIPV 79-1146 challenge. Vaccinated kittens developed FIPV-specific antibodies after immunization, however, none of them was protected against FIPV. Our results suggest a crucial role for the type of poxviral promoter that must be used to induce an effective immune response against FIPV.

Feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) is a coronavirus that induces a fatal systemic disease mediated by an inappropriate immune response. Most previous vaccination attempts against FIPV were unsuccessful because IgG antibodies against the surface protein enhance the infection. However, two studies have shown that poxvirus vectors (vaccinia WR and canarypox) expressing only the FIPV membrane (M) protein can elicit a partially protective immunity which is supposed to be cell-mediated (Virology 181 (1991) 327; International patent WO 97/20054 (1997)). In our study, we report the construction of another poxvirus, the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), as an expression vector for the FIPV M protein. In this vector, the M gene has been inserted downstream a strong early/late promoter, whereas the two previously described poxviruses expressed the M protein during their early stage only. The immunogenicity of the recombinant MVA-M was evaluated in the murine model which revealed an effect of the vector on the Th1/Th2 balance. The vaccine was then tested in cats to evaluate its efficacy in an FIPV 79-1146 challenge. Vaccinated kittens developed FIPV-specific antibodies after immunization, however, none of them was protected against FIPV. Our results suggest a crucial role for the type of poxviral promoter that must be used to induce an effective immune response against FIPV.