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Bluetongue virus serotype 4 (BTV-4) was confirmed in sheep in North Macedonia in July 2020. The full genome of this BTV-4 strain (MKD2020/06) was shown to be most closely related (99.74% nt identity) to the Greek GRE2014/08 and the Hungarian HUN1014 strains, indicating the re-emergence of this BTV serotype in the Balkan region since it was last reported in 2017., (© 2020 The Authors. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Infection with Lumpy Skin Disease virus (LSDV), as well as infections with other Capripox virus species, are described as the most severe pox diseases of production animals and are therefore listed as notifiable diseases under the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). To our knowledge there is only a single study examining dose dependency, clinical course, viremia, virus shedding, as well as serological response following experimental LSDV "Neethling" inoculation. Here, we inoculated cattle with four different doses of LSDV strain "Macedonia2016", a recently characterized virulent LSDV field strain, and examined clinical symptoms, viremia, viral shedding, and seroconversion. Interestingly, around 400 cell culture infectious dose 50 (CCID 50 ) of LSDV-"Macedonia2016" were sufficient to induce generalized Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in two out of six cattle but with a different incubation time, whereas the other animals of this group showed only a mild course of LSD. However, differences in incubation time, viral loads, serology, and in the clinical scoring could not be observed in the other three groups. In summary, we concluded that experimental LSDV infection of cattle with an infectious virus titer of 10 5 to 10 6 CCID 50 / mL of "Macedonia2016" provides a robust and sufficient challenge model for future studies.

Aim: To analyze the impact of measures undertaken to control brucellosis in the Republic of Macedonia on demographic, epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the disease in humans., Methods: Demographic, epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 340 patients with brucellosis were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were treated at the University Clinic of Infectious Diseases in Skopje during three time periods: 1989-1990 when no national strategy for disease control existed, 2000-2001 when some activities for control were performed and 2011-2014 when an organized and financially supported strategy was accomplished., Results: A drastic decrease of the number of cases of human brucellosis during the last period when compared to the first two ones (3.9 and 3.3 times lower, respectively) was evident. Patients from the third period were significantly older, with median age 41 years (range 4-73) vs. 31 years (3-77) and 34 years (1-74), respectively (p = .013). There were more males (86.6 vs. 73.6% and 63.2%, respectively, p = .002) and the disease was more often acquired professionally (80.6 vs. 60.1% and 59.2%, respectively, p = .006). Fewer patients from the third period had elevated body temperature either as a symptom (50.7 vs. 73.6% and 69.6%, respectively, p = .003), or as a sign (35.8 vs. 55.4% and 56.8%, respectively, p = .011) and less often exhibited focal forms (40.3 vs. 56.8% and 64.0%, respectively, p = .007)., Conclusion: The national strategy for brucellosis control, which included vaccination of small ruminants, resulted in a decrease of human brucellosis cases in the Republic of Macedonia and there was a tendency to milder disease manifestations.

Background: There are only few assays available for the detection of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV)-specific antibodies in animals, and data about diagnostic sensitivity and specificity are incompletely documented for most of these tests. This is unfortunate since CCHFV antibodies in animals can be used as indicator for virus circulation in a geographic area and therewith potential risk of human exposure. This paper therefore reports on a novel ELISA for the detection of CCHFV-specific antibodies in cattle and on its application for testing ruminant sera from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia., Principal Findings: A highly sensitive and specific ELISA was developed to detect CCHFV-specific IgG antibodies in cattle. The assay was validated by using 503 negative serum samples from a country where CCHFV has never been detected until now, and by using 54 positive serum samples. The positive sera were verified by using two commercially available assays (for testing human serum) which we have adapted for use in animals. The sensitivity of the novel ELISA was 98% and its specificity 99%. The presence of Hyalomma ticks was demonstrated in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and depending on the region antibody prevalence rates up to 80% were detected in the cattle population., Conclusion: This article describes a fully validated, highly sensitive and specific ELISA for the detection of CCHFV-specific IgG antibodies in cattle. Using this assay, CCHFV-specific antibodies were detected for the first time in cattle in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, giving evidence for an active circulation of this virus in the country. Supporting this conclusion, the occurrence of the main vector of CCHFV was demonstrated in the present work for the first time in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Rabies, a worldwide zoonosis, remains a public-health concern despite oral wildlife vaccination in Europe. After a ten-year break, Macedonia reported eight rabies cases in 2011-2012. Two countries (Serbia and Bulgaria) bordering Macedonia are reporting cases in domestic and wild animals. This report describes the genetic characterisation of eight isolates from Macedonia compared with representative samples from neighbouring countries. All of the isolates tested belong to the Eastern European group, with a high degree of nucleotide sequence identity in the nucleoprotein gene. The close genetic relationship between isolates from the three bordering countries suggests that wildlife is responsible for rabies movements in the region.

Aim: To identify why "test and slaughter policy" for eradication of brucellosis did not significantly reduce the prevalence in sheep and goats in Macedonia., Method: Coverage of sampled vs expected number of sheep and goats, absolute number of positive animals, prevalence, frequency distribution, and classes of disease prevalence were retrospectively analyzed at the village level for 2004-2006. A comparative analysis of the disease prevalence in the investigated villages was also performed. The percentage of slaughtered animals was analyzed for 2000-2006., Results: We found differences between the expected and actual number of sampled animals, which were related to the type of livestock breeding. Traditionally maintained flocks and migratory flocks were considered to be responsible for the transmission of the disease. The absolute number of positive animals and the number of infected vs non-infected holdings did not decrease over the study period. Most of the villages had between 1 and 10 positive animals. Between 2000 and 2006, 55% of the positive animals were slaughtered, 41% in 2001 and up to 79% in 2002. Moreover, in 2005 and 2006, 34% and 53% of sheep and goats were found to be positive at the slaughter line, respectively, demonstrating that only 21%-23% of the infected animals were correctly removed from the herds., Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, Macedonia changed its control strategy from "test and slaughter" to a vaccination policy for sheep and goats in 2008.