National Practising Veterinarian Qualification Examination Preventive Veterinary Medicine II: Viral and Parasitic Diseases: practice questions

1 · Foot-and-mouth disease · easy

How many serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus are recognised?

1. Nine, matching the nine serotypes of African horse sickness
2. One serotype with seven genetic topotypes that cross-protect
3. Seven: O, A, C, Asia 1, SAT 1, SAT 2 and SAT 3
4. Four: O, A, C and Asia 1, the SAT types being one serotype

2 · Foot-and-mouth disease · easy

In an FMD epidemic, which species is described as the 'amplifier' host and why?

1. Pigs: they exhale far more airborne virus
2. Sheep, because they carry the virus silently and spread it through markets
3. Cattle, because they show the most obvious vesicles on the tongue and feet
4. African buffalo, because they carry SAT viruses in the pharynx for years

3 · Foot-and-mouth disease · medium

A 3-week-old calf on a farm with an FMD outbreak dies suddenly without vesicles. What lesion would you expect at necropsy?

1. Raised button ulcers scattered over the caecal and colonic mucosa
2. Grey-white 'tiger heart' streaks in the myocardium
3. Zebra striping along the folds of the rectum
4. Haemorrhage at the base of the pulmonary artery

4 · Foot-and-mouth disease · easy

In pigs, vesicles on the snout and feet cannot be attributed to FMD on clinical grounds. Which disease produces identical lesions?

1. Classical swine fever
2. Porcine circovirus type 2
3. Swine erysipelas (diamond skin)
4. Swine vesicular disease

5 · Peste des petits ruminants · medium

A flock of goats bought at a market develops fever, matted eyelids, foul-smelling erosions on the gums, profuse diarrhoea and coughing; several die. Which disease is most likely?

1. Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia
2. Haemonchosis with bottle jaw
3. Contagious ecthyma (orf)
4. Peste des petits ruminants

6 · Bluetongue · easy

Bluetongue virus is transmitted mainly by which vector?

1. Biting midges of the genus Culicoides
2. Hard ticks of the genus Hyalomma
3. Sand flies of the genus Phlebotomus
4. Tsetse flies of the genus Glossina

7 · Bluetongue · easy

Which sample and test are most appropriate to detect current bluetongue infection in a febrile ewe?

1. Serum for a single competitive ELISA
2. Whole blood in EDTA for RT-PCR
3. Skin scraping for direct microscopy
4. Faeces for a sedimentation test

8 · Canine distemper, canine parvovirus and infectious canine hepatitis · easy

The 'blue eye' seen in some dogs recovering from infectious canine hepatitis is caused by:

1. Vitamin A deficiency secondary to liver damage
2. Haemorrhage into the anterior chamber from thrombocytopenia
3. Direct infection of the lens by canine distemper virus
4. Immune-complex anterior uveitis leading to corneal oedema

9 · Feline panleukopenia · medium

Which property of feline panleukopenia virus most affects how a cattery is cleaned after an outbreak?

1. It is destroyed by freezing, so the cattery can be left unheated overnight
2. It is non-enveloped and survives for months, so ordinary detergents are not enough
3. It persists only in litter trays, so the rest of the cattery is safe
4. It is enveloped and fragile, so any household detergent kills it within a few minutes

10 · Babesiosis and theileriosis · easy

Which tick genus transmits Theileria annulata, the cause of tropical theileriosis?

1. Ixodes
2. Rhipicephalus (Boophilus)
3. Ornithodoros
4. Hyalomma