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Two hundred and three sera obtained in 1993-96 from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), lynx (Lynx lynx), brown bears (Ursus arctos) and wolverines (Gulo gulo) in Fennoscandia (Norway, Sweden, and Finland) were examined for the presence of anti-orthopoxvirus antibodies by a competition enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). High prevalences were found for the red foxes in Norway (7/62, 11%) and Finland (7/14, 50%). While only one of 73 (1%) lynx from Finland had anti-orthopoxvirus antibodies, a high prevalence was found in sera from the Sarek National Park in Sweden (5/17, 29%). In addition, anti-orthopoxvirus antibodies were found in one brown bear from the same area (1/45, 2%), whereas none of the 14 wolverines were seropositive. This is the first report of anti-orthopoxvirus antibodies in the brown bear and the lynx, and the first screening for such antibodies in Sweden and Finland. These results indicate that orthopoxviruses are distributed in Sweden and Finland as well as in Norway, and that the red fox and the European lynx may serve as indicator species for the presence of orthopoxviruses in the local populations of small mammals.

The three species of the genus Elaphostrongylus occurring in Norway. namely, E. cervi, E. rangiferi and E. alces from Cervus elaphus, Rangijer tarandus and Alces alces respectively are redescribed and figured using light and scanning electron microscopical techniques. The taxonomic status of the three species is reviewed and their validity confirmed.

This study was conducted to clarify the etiology of a high frequency of bone fractures and osteoporosis in the moose (Alces alces) population in southern Norway. Liver samples, both metacarpi, and carcass data were collected from 21 and 22 moose calves shot in 1994 in Birkenes (southern Norway), and Naerøy (central Norway), respectively. The liver samples were analyzed for copper, manganese, zinc, cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, and selenium. Bone samples were subject to histologic, radiologic, and chemical examinations. Three of the calves from Birkenes and one calf from Naerøy showed histologic and radiologic evidence of generalized osteoporosis consistent with osteoporosis due to starvation. The calves with osteoporosis had the lowest carcass weights and radio-opacities recorded. There was a positive correlation between carcass weight and bone radio-opacity. Density, ash content, phosphorus, and calcium contents and phosphorous/calcium ratio in bone samples, as well as hepatic trace element status, were within the normal range for all calves in both populations. Two of the osteoporotic calves, were reported to have been orphaned. Our results indicate that the high frequency of bone fractures reported in moose in southern Norway is not associated with regional differences in trace element status or bone mineral balance. We propose that the occurrence of osteoporosis in moose calves in Birkenes may have resulted from inadequate nutrition following general overcrowding and high pressure on feed resources in the southernmost part of Norway.

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