West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging pathogen in Hungary, causing severe outbreaks in equines and humans since 2007. The aim of our study was to provide a comprehensive report on the clinical signs of West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) in horses in Hungary. Clinical details of 124 confirmed equine WNND cases were collected between 2007 and 2019. Data about the seasonal and geographical presentation, demographic data, clinical signs, treatment protocols, and disease progression were evaluated. Starting from an initial case originating from the area of possible virus introduction by migratory birds, the whole country became endemic with WNV over the subsequent 12 years. The transmission season did not expand significantly during the data collection period, but vaccination protocols should be always reviewed according to the recent observations. There was not any considerable relationship between the occurrence of WNND and age, breed, or gender. Ataxia was by far the most common neurologic sign related to the disease, but weakness, behavioral changes, and muscle fasciculation appeared frequently. Apart from recumbency combined with inappetence, no other clinical sign or treatment regime correlated with survival. The survival rate showed a moderate increase throughout the years, possibly due to the increased awareness of practitioners.

The Szekler horse was a small-sized mountain horse of the Carpathian Mountains whose official stud book ceased to exist after WWII. Despite that, individual horses preserving all the characteristics of the Szekler horse remained scattered in remote areas. This study aims to evaluate the mitochondrial D-loop sequence (608 bp) of the founder population (n = 59) in 2021 of a breed reconstruction project started in 2012. D-loop showed 68 polymorphic sites. The number of haplotypes was 34, with haplotype diversity (Hd) 0.966 and nucleotide diversity (π) 0.02232. The value of Fu’s Fs statistic (−6.566) was significant (p < 0.001), which rejects a stable population status. Thirteen haplogroups (HG) were found with a nearly equal number of representatives (HG(n)—A (5), D (1), E (2), G (4), I (4), J-K (1), M (4), N (2), O’P (4), and R (1)). In contrast, the Q, L, and B HGs occurred in more horses (15, 9, and 7, respectively). Based on a large number of polymorphic sites and haplotypes, the founder stock is considered diverse. Since the HG Q is characteristic of Asian horses, the examined stock haplotype distribution reflects the eastern origin of the Hungarian horses brought from the East in 896 AD. It is complemented by the gene pool of horses from Europe (e.g., L) and the Middle East (e.g., B).

A dámszarvas (Dama dama) Magyarországon jelentős vadgazdálkodási értéket képvisel húsa és trófeája miatt. Védelme érdekében a szerzők egy egyedi szintű azonosításra alkalmas markerkészlet fejlesztését kezdték meg, amely később a vaddal kapcsolatos jogkövetkezménnyel járó esetek (pl. orvvadászat, közlekedési károkozás) megoldásában segíthet. A kutatáshoz 31 mikroszatellita-markert vizsgáltak, és a vizsgált 27 dámszarvasminta alapján négy polimorf markert azonosítottak, amelyek két-három alléllal rendelkeznek. Eddigi eredmények alapján a vizsgált magyarországi állományban vélhetően csekély a genetikai diverzitás, a sikeres egyedi szintű azonosításhoz ezért további markerek vizsgálata szükséges.

A szerzők áttekintik a CBD állatgyógyászatban, azon belül a lógyógyászatban való alkalmazásával kapcsolatosan szakirodalmat, kitérve annak hatásmechanizmusára, a farmakokinetikai vizsgálatokra, ill. a főbb lehetséges indikációkra. A korábban más fajokkal kapcsolatban megjelent szakirodalmi adatok alapján az endokannabinoid rendszeren keresztül lehetőség nyílhat a lovak életminőségének javítására fájdalommal, gyulladással járó kórképekben, ill. lovak viselkedészavariban. Lovakban a CBD hatékonyságának bizonyítását célzó tudományos kísérletek elvégzése egyre sürgetőbb, azonban az eddigi tanulmányok alapján további farmakokinetikai vizsgálatok szükségesek.

The fallow deer (Dama dama) represents significant game management value globally, and human activities are significantly impacting the species. Besides the positive effects, these activities can threaten its existence, health, and value. The aim of the authors was to develop a tetranucleotide microsatellite panel that could be clearly interpreted and used for genetic testing of fallow deer. Such a panel did not exist until now and could be particularly useful in the field of conservation genetics and forensics. A total of 99 tetrameric microsatellites, originally designed for related deer species, were tested on 20 fallow deer individuals from five Hungarian sampling areas. Original and newly designed primers were used to amplify the microsatellite regions using previously published or optimized PCR protocols. The lengths and sequences of specific amplicons were detected using capillary electrophoresis, and the rate of polymorphism was determined. Altogether, 80 markers provided PCR products of adequate quality and quantity. Among them, 15 markers proved to be polymorphic (2–5 alleles/locus), and 14 tetrameric markers were selected for further analysis. Statistical calculations showed that the selected polymorphic microsatellites can potentially enable key individualization in many areas of wildlife and population genetics, thus protecting the species.