In January 2014 the first case of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar of the Baltic States was reported from Lithuania. It has been the first occurrence of the disease in Eastern EU member states. Since then, the disease spread further affecting not only the Baltic States and Poland but also south-eastern Europe, the Czech Republic and Belgium. The spreading pattern of ASF with its long-distance spread of several hundreds of kilometers on the one hand and the endemic situation in wild boar on the other is far from being understood. By analyzing data of ASF cases in wild boar along with implemented control measures in Lithuania from 2014–2018 this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the disease. In brief, despite huge efforts to eradicate ASF, the disease is now endemic in the Lithuanian wild boar population. About 86% of Lithuanian’s territory is affected and over 3225 ASF cases in wild boar have been notified since 2014. The ASF epidemic led to a considerable decline in wild boar hunting bags. Intensified hunting might have reduced the wild boar population but this effect cannot be differentiated from the population decline caused by the disease itself. However, for ASF detection sampling of wild boar found dead supported by financial incentives turned out to be one of the most effective tools.

Rabies is a fatal zoonosis that still causes nearly 70, 000 human deaths every year. In Europe, the oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was developed in the late 1970s and has demonstrated its effectiveness in the eradication of the disease in Western and some Central European countries. Following the accession of the three Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—to the European Union in 2004, subsequent financial support has allowed the implementation of regular ORV campaigns since 2005–2006. This paper reviews ten years of surveillance efforts and ORV campaigns in these countries resulting in the near eradication of the disease. The various factors that may have influenced the results of vaccination monitoring were assessed using generalized linear models (GLMs) on bait uptake and on herd immunity. As shown in previous studies, juveniles had lower bait uptake level than adults. For the first time, raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) were shown to have significantly lower bait uptake proportion compared with red foxes. This result suggests potentially altered ORV effectiveness in this invasive species compared to the red foxes. An extensive phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the North-East European (NEE) rabies phylogroup is endemic in all three Baltic countries. Although successive oral vaccination campaigns have substantially reduced the number of detected rabies cases, sporadic detection of the C lineage (European part of Russian phylogroup) underlines the risk of reintroduction via westward spread from bordering countries. Vaccine induced cases were also reported for the first time in non-target species (Martes martes and Meles meles).

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After oral contamination, zearalenone (ZEN) is rapidly absorbed in organisms and can be detected in biological fluids. In this study, we investigated the metabolites of ZEN in the biological fluids of cows (blood, urine, milk). The study was divided into three stages: preparation (the first stage), investigation (the second stage), and final stage (the third stage). Samples of biological fluids were taken 7, 21, and 35 days after the beginning of the study. At the first stage and at the second stage, the cows were fed a total mixed ration (TMR) with naturally contaminated mycotoxin-zearalenone (500 ± 75 µg/kg). In the third stage, the cows were fed a TMR without mycotoxins. This study established that at the second stage, the alpha-zearalenol concentrations in the serum increased by 92% and the beta-zearalanol in the urine decreased by 48% compared to the first stage (p < 0.05). The beta-zearalenol and zearalanone concentrations in the urine were higher compared to that of the alpha-zearalenol. The zearalenone concentration in the milk at the second stage was 35% higher than at the first stage (p < 0.05). A significant negative correlation (r = –0.540) was determined between the beta-zearalenol and beta-zearalanol concentrations in the urine and the positive significant correlation (r = 0.826) between the beta-zearalanol and alpha-zearalenol concentrations in the serum (p < 0.05). During the study, it was determined that feeding cows for two weeks with a TMR without mycotoxins can reduce concentrations of alpha-zearalanol, beta-zearalenol, and beta-zearalanol in the biological fluids and can reduce the concentrations of ZEN in the milk, but does not reduce the concentration of zearalanone.