Project “Investigation of Viral Etiology of Infectious Diseases of the Central Nervous System in Domestic and Wild Animals as Reservoirs of Infection” Successfully Implemented

Based on the Agreement on the Purposeful Use of Funds for Co-financing Research/Art Research and Research and Development Projects of Special Interest to the Sarajevo Canton for the year 2023, number: 27-02-35-37082-15-23, dated September 14, 2023, which was signed between the Ministry of Science, Higher Education, and Youth of the Sarajevo Canton and the University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the project titled “Investigation of Viral Etiology of Infectious Diseases of the Central Nervous System in Domestic and Wild Animals as Reservoirs of Infection” has been successfully realized.

In addition to viruses, which are the most common causative agents of inflammatory conditions of the brain parenchyma (encephalitis), bacteria, fungi, and protozoa can produce the same or similar clinical signs, leading to a lack of pathogen-specific differential diagnostics for individual agents. For this reason, establishing an etiological diagnosis of infectious diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) is often possible only through laboratory diagnostics. However, due to the general underdevelopment of this field in veterinary medicine for both domestic and wild animals, frequent fatal outcomes, and a tendency to focus solely on one zoonotic agent (rabies), laboratory diagnostics are often neglected.

This research contributed to the establishment of new laboratory diagnostic tools and the presentation of the issues surrounding infectious CNS diseases to veterinary and hunting organizations as well as the broader public. DNA and RNA were the most frequently identified causative agents of neurological forms of the disease in the samples examined, with rhabdoviruses and herpesviruses being the most prevalent.

The study focused on laboratory diagnostics of viral infectious CNS diseases in animals exhibiting characteristic clinical signs, which had previously tested negative for the rabies virus, with the primary aim of determining the prevalence of pseudorabies virus. The research encompassed populations of wild animals, particularly wild boars (reservoirs of ADV) and foxes (reservoirs of rabies), in collaboration with hunters and veterinary organizations in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine expresses its gratitude to the Ministry of Science, Higher Education, and Youth of the Sarajevo Canton, which supported the realization of this project through the co-financing of research/arts and research and development projects of special interest to the Sarajevo Canton.

Prof. Dr. Lejla Velić, Project Leader