Amar Nasir

Sero-prevalence of Neospora caninum and Besnoitia besnoiti in South Australian beef and dairy cattle

A serological survey for Neospora caninum and Besnoitia besnoiti was carried out in beef and dairy cattle in South Australia. Serum samples of dairy cattle (n=133) from 9 properties and tank milk samples from a further 122 dairy herds were tested. An additional 810 sera from beef cattle from 51 properties were also tested. Testing at the individual animal level by IDEXX NEOSPORA X2 Ab test ELISA revealed a low prevalence of N. caninum antibodies of only 2.7% (95% CI; 1.6-3.7%) sera positive, as did the milk testing that showed 2.5% (95% CI; 1.4-3.6%) of tank milks being positive. At the herd level, 29.4% (95% CI; 16.9-41.9%) of beef, and 44.4% (95% CI; 12.0-76.9%) of dairy cattle herds showed serum antibodies. The highest within-herd prevalence in beef was 20% and 25%in dairy, which explains the low herd prevalence in dairy detected by bulk milk testing. Testing for B. besnoiti antibodies by PrioCHECK(®) Besnoitia Ab 2.0 ELISA initially identified 18.4% (95% CI: 15.8-21.0%) of 869 individual cattle sera as positive by ELISA at the manufacturers suggested cut-off threshold (15 PP). Additional tests by immunoblot and IFAT, however, could not confirm any of the ELISA results. The use of a higher (40 PP) threshold in the ELISA is suggested to improve specificity. There is thus no evidence of B. besnoiti infection in South Australian cattle.

Exposure of smoke solutions from CNG-powered four-stroke auto-rickshaws induces distressed embryonic movements, embryonic hemorrhaging and ectopia cordis

In south Asian countries, a campaign has launched to promote CNG-powered four-stroke auto-rickshaws (CNFAR) to decrease emission load in the environment. Even though, CNFAR are considered environmentally safe, emissions of some other toxic chemicals would amplify, which may effect the development of growing fetus and may result in different growth defects. By utilizing the in vivo chicken embryo model, this report analyzes the toxic potential of CNFAR smoke solutions (CNFARSS) on embryonic movements (EM) and cardiovascular development. Application of CNFARSS to embryos caused profound decline (p<0.001) in all four types of EMs. Several recovery attempts of all EMs were observed in oscillating fashion, however, EMs did not recover by the end of experiment. Exposure of CNFARSS escorted intense decline (p<0.001) with temperate recovery phases in the EM of tail. Macroscopic evaluation of all CNFARSS treated chicken embryos revealed several widespread hemorrhaging throughout the whole body. Moreover, four different types of ectopia cordis were prominently observed among all CNFARSS treated embryos, namely; incomplete ectopia cordis, complete ectopia cordis, cervico-thoracic ectopia cordis and thoraco-abdominal ectopia cordis.

The effect of infection with mixed Eimeria species on hematology and immune responses following Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease booster vaccination in broilers

Background: Coccidiosis is an important parasitic disease of chickens, causing high mortality and morbidity. This morbidity is believed to be correlated with altered population dynamics of blood cells and immunocompromisation. Objectives: This study investigated the effects of mixed Eimeria species (viz., tenella, maxima, acervulina and necatrix) infection on hematology and immune responses following Newcastle disease (ND) and infectious bursal disease (IBD) booster vaccination in broilers. Animals and methods: One-day-old broiler chicks (Hubbard; n = 200) were divided into two equal groups A and B. On day 16, group A was infected orally with Eimeria species (7 × 104 sporulated oocysts), whereas group B served as control. Both groups were analyzed for hematological parameters on post-infection days 6–8. Sera from both groups were analyzed for antibody titers against ND and IBD vaccines. On day 8 post-infection, lymphoid organs were also examined. Results: Significantly lower (P < 0.05) levels of plasma proteins, globular volume, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, total erythrocytes, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were found in infected chickens compared with non-infected control chickens. In addition, the infected group exhibited significantly increased (P < 0.05) numbers of different leukocytes. Infected chickens also showed significantly lower antibody titers against ND and IBD with decreased relative organ weights of all lymphoid organs except spleen. Conclusion and recommendations: Mixed species of Eimeria adversely affected the hematology and immune efficiency of broilers. Thus, inexpensive immune potentiators and hemotonics along with appropriate anti-coccidial medications are suggested to avoid the complications and subsequent economic losses.

A review of Neospora caninum in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

A number of countries in the world have reported infections with Neospora caninum in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), from Africa to Asia, Europe and South America and recently Australia. In general, clinical manifestations (such as abortion) seem rare, which has raised the prospect that buffalo may be inherently resistant to clinical effects of N. caninum infection. Worldwide, the seroprevalence of N. caninum infection (as a measure of exposure determined by the detection of antibody) in buffalo is high, at approximately 48%. This reported seroprevalence is three or four times higher than that reported from the worlds cattle populations, which have collective seroprevalence rates of 16.1% for dairy cattle and 11.5% for beef cattle. However, there is a lack of standardisation in seroprevalence studies and some studies may well under-estimate the true level of infection. Epidemiologic evidence supports post-natal transmission, and in utero transmission has also been demonstrated. The causes for water buffalo to have markedly higher seroprevalence but apparently lower neosporosis abortion rates than cattle warrant further investigation.

A simplified duplex real-time PCR incorporating TaqMan minor groove binder (MGB) probes and an exogenous internal positive control for the simultaneous detection of Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae cultures

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) are the most pathogenic and economically important mycoplasma pathogens that infect chickens. The development of rapid and innovative molecular diagnostic techniques is of pivotal importance for their effective control. The aim of the present study was to develop a novel duplex TaqMan real-time PCR assay for the simultaneous detection of MG and MS. This duplex real-time PCR assay incorporates TaqMan (FAM/NED) labelled minor groove binder (MGB) probes that target the cytadhesin encoding surface protein (mgc2) gene and the haemagglutinin surface protein ( vlhA) gene of MG and MS, respectively. The assay also contained a TaqMan exogenous internal positive control (Exo IPC), to avoid false negative results that might happen due to failure in DNA extraction/PCR inhibition. The TaqMan MGB probe-based duplex RT-PCR incorporating Exo IPC was then applied to DNA from culture isolates for the simultaneous detection of MG ( mgc2 gene) and MS ( vlhA gene). For duplex RT-PCR the sensitivity recorded was 10 -3 CFU/ml and 10 -2 CFU/ml for MG and MS template DNA, respectively. The specificity of the real-time PCR assay was 100% for MG- and MS-specific probes in detecting both single as well as double infections. In conclusion, the use of TaqMan MGB probes for the detection of mgc2 and vlhA genes confers extra specificity and the incor - poration of Exo IPC simplifies the assay, allowing the detection of double infections with low-copy target DNAs.

Some facts and issues related to livestock theft in Punjab province of Pakistan – Findings of series of cases

Stock theft is an endemic crime particularly affecting deep rural areas of Pakistan. Analysis of a series of cases was conducted to describe features of herds and farmers who have been the victims of cattle and/buffalo theft in various villages of Punjab in Pakistan during the year 2012. A structured interview was administered to a sample of fifty three affected farmers. The following were the important findings: i) incidents of theft were more amongst small scale farmers, ii) the rate of repeat victimization was high, iii) stealing was the most common modus operandi, iv) the majority of animals were adult, having high sale values, v) more cases occurred during nights with crescent moon, vi) only a proportion of victims stated to have the incident reported to the police, vii) many farmers had a history of making compensation agreements with thieves, viii) foot tracking failed in the majority of the cases, ix) all the respondents were willing to invest in radio frequency identification devices and advocated revision of existing laws. The study has implications for policy makers and proposes a relationship between crime science and veterinary medicine.