Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is responsible for a number of porcine circovirus-associated diseases (PCVAD) that can severely impact domestic pig herds. For a non-enveloped virus with a small genome (1.7 kb ssDNA), PCV2 is remarkably diverse, with eight genotypes (a–h). New genotypes of PCV2 can spread through the migration of wild boar, which are thought to infect domestic pigs and spread further through the domestic pig trade. Despite a large swine population, the diversity of PCV2 genotypes in Ukraine has been under-sampled, with few PCV2 genome sequences reported in the past decade. To gain a deeper understanding of PCV2 genotype diversity in Ukraine, samples of blood serum were collected from wild boars (n = 107) that were hunted in Ukraine during the November–December 2012 hunting season. We found 34/107 (31.8%) prevalence of PCV2 by diagnostic PCR. For domestic pigs, liver samples (n = 16) were collected from a commercial market near Kharkiv in 2019, of which 6 out of 16 (37%) samples were positive for PCV2. We sequenced the genotyping locus ORF2, a gene encoding the PCV2 viral capsid (Cap), for 11 wild boar and six domestic pig samples in Ukraine using an Oxford Nanopore MinION device. Of 17 samples with resolved genotypes, the PCV2 genotype b was the most common in wild boar samples (10 out of 11, 91%), while the domestic pigs were infected with genotypes b and d. We also detected genotype b/d and b/a co-infections in wild boars and domestic pigs, respectively, and for the first time in Ukraine we detected genotype f in a wild boar from Poltava. Building a maximum-likelihood phylogeny, we identified a sublineage of PCV2 genotype b infections in both wild and domestic swine, suggesting a possible epizootic cluster and an ecological interaction between wild boar and domestic pig populations in northeastern Ukraine.

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The article presents the anthrax monitoring studies for the period of 1920–2019 years. The statistical analysis on data regarding anthrax outbreaks among all regions of Ukraine, hot spots and the number of the old anthrax burial grounds with documentary evidence. During the investigated period it was counted 24955 anthrax outbreaks among different species of animals. The epizootic situation for anthrax in Ukraine nowdays has to be complex due to almost 10 thousand of the known old burial grounds and up to 6 thousand supposedly presented ones with unknown location. The total vaccination of cattle population significantly reduced the anthrax incidence, but the treat of new outbreaks cannot be completely eliminated, the potential danger of new outbreaks exists, moreover, in completely new forms of manifestation, including the arising risk of bioterroristic acts in recent years. The results of our research indicated that the occurrence of anthrax connected to the spreading and preserving of the pathogen in the soil and non sufficient vaccination program or presence of nonimmune cattle in the population. It should be noted that despite of the constant presence of the pathogen in the environment, anthrax pathogen usually does not acquire the manifestation of the large outbreak, even in areas where there were no preventive vaccinations of cattle. Thus, the problem of anthrax is still far from being resolved. Nowdays and in the near future B. anthracis having potential for actively spreading in the abiotic sphere, represents a potential danger to wild and farm animals, as well as to the human population in almost all countries of the world. Up to date more than 10,000 hot spots have been revealed and registered in Ukraine and 6,000 anthrax outbreaks have been documentally proved. Laboratory studies have confirmed the main source of infection was anthrax-infected animals, among which 71% were cattle. The main approach for the prevention and surveillance of anthrax is the compulsive immunization with live or inactivated vaccine and improving approaches for anthrax diagnostics. The presence of anthrax foci in the military conflict zone in the eastern regions of Ukraine, part of Donetsk and Lugansk oblast arise the issue of ensuring people's biosafety and lowering the risks of anthrax outbreaks. The part of territory involved in war conflict is out of Ukrainian officials surveillance, these regions can be considered as a high risk zone of possible anthrax outbreaks. In order to characterize ecology and epidemiology of anthrax, a historical anthrax database of all known anthrax outbreaks in Ukraine during 1993–2019 was developed. Human and animal cases are registered throughout the country, however the spatial distribution of cases is heterogeneous with clustering in some areas. Case investigations show that a majority of the infections among humans were related to contact with cattle, while the second most frequent cause is contact with contaminated soil. Despite all investments and measures undertaken to control and prevent the disease, anthrax is still endemic to Ukraine with outbreaks. The main tool for the anthrax prevention and surveillance today is the applying of effective approaches for immunization and improving the diagnostic capacity for early detection and notification.

The complete genome of Erysipelothrix sp. strain Poltava, isolated from fatal acute septic erysipelas of swine in Ukraine, was assembled using Nanopore sequences. One circular chromosome of 1,794,858 bp ( N 50 , 1,794,858 bp) encodes 16 putative antibiotic resistance genes and secreted virulence factors, highlighting the risk of cross-species livestock and human infection.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is responsible for a number of porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCAD) that can severely impact domestic pig herds. For a non-enveloped virus with a small genome (1.7 kb ssDNA), PCV2 is remarkably diverse, with 8 subtypes (a-h). New subtypes of PCV2 can spread through migration of wild boars, which are thought to infect domestic pigs and spread further through the domestic pig trade. Despite a large swine population, the diversity of PCV2 subtypes in Ukraine has been undersampled, with few PCV2 genome sequences reported in the past decade. To gain a deeper understanding of PCV2 subtype diversity in Ukraine, samples of blood serum were collected from wild boars (n = 107) that were hunted in Ukraine during the November-December 2012 hunting season. We found 34/107 (31.8%) prevalence of PCV2 by diagnostic PCR. For domestic pigs, liver samples (n = 16) were collected from a commercial market near Kharkiv in 2019, of which 6/16 (37%) were positive for PCV2. We sequenced the genotyping locus ORF2, a gene encoding the PCV2 viral capsid (Cp), for 11 wild boar and 6 domestic pig samples in Ukraine using an Oxford Nanopore MinION device. Of 17 samples with resolved subtypes, PCV2 subtype b was most common in wild boar (10/11, 91%), while domestic pigs were infected with subtypes b and d. We also detected subtype b/d and b/a co-infections in wild boar and domestic pigs, respectively, and subtype f in a wild boar from Poltava for the first time in Ukraine. Building a maximum likelihood phylogeny, we identified a sublineage of PCV2 subtype b infections in both wild and domestic swine, suggesting a possible epizootic cluster and ecological interaction in northeastern Ukraine.