Jawaria Ali Khan

Prevalence and chemotherapy of Balantidium coli in cattle in the River Ravi region, Lahore (Pakistan).

The prevalence of Balantidium coli in cattle from the River Ravi region of Lahore was examined and the efficacy of three treatments measured. A total of 200 fecal samples were collected from cattle and examined microscopically; 50 (25%) were positive for B. coli cysts. The final efficacy of treatment with metronidazole, oxytetracycline, or secnidazole was 37.5%, 62.5%, and 87.5%, respectively, making secnidazole the most effective.

Seroprevalence and risk factors of glanders in working equines – Findings of a cross-sectional study in Punjab province of Pakistan

Glanders is an infectious and contagious bacterial disease of equines. A little is known about its seroprevalence and risk factors in working equines in countries where the disease is endemic. Also, there are no reports on prevalence of the disease in areas where there is a prior evidence of Burkholderia (B.) mallei detection in soil. A cross-sectional study was conducted in selected districts (n=09) of Punjab province of Pakistan during 2014-2015. A total of 1008 serum samples were screened for detection of antibodies to B. mallei with complement fixation test followed by western blot. The overall seroprevalence was found to be 3.17% (95% CI: 2.25-4.44). The seropositivity was significantly higher from the sampling sites where B. mallei was detected in soil [OR: 10.66 (95% CI: 4.42-31.66), p=0.00]. Other risk factors significantly associated with animal seropositivity were: age group [OR: 1.78 (95% CI: 4.58-15.56), p=0.00], location in urban area [OR: 2.99 (95% CI: 1.46-6.51), p=0.00],body condition [OR: 3.47 (95% CI: 1.64-7.99), p=0.00], presence of farcy lesion[OR: 7.71 (95% CI: 3.47-19.50), p=0.00], proximity to water bodies [OR: 7.71 (95% CI: 3.47-19.50), p=0.00]; domestic animal population [OR: 3.20 (95% CI: 1.24-10.87), p=0.03] and number of households in sampling area [OR: 4.18 (95%CI: 1.82-11.30), p=0.00]. The study provides an estimate of prevalence of glanders and a potential link between animal seropositivity and presence of B. mallei in soil. The risk factors identified in this study can be used in surveillance and disease awareness. The high prevalence of disease in draught horses and contact of infected animals with their care-takers in developing countries signify need to initiate progressive control of the disease using one health approach.

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATES RECOVERED FROM NATURAL CASES OF SUBCLINICAL MASTITIS IN CHOLISTANI CATTLE AND THEIR ANTIBACTERIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY

Mastitis being the most significant disease of dairy animals largely affects the farm economics by decreasing milk production, and increasing the treatment costs (Mohammadian, 2011; Singh et al., 2015). Mastitis is a multi-etiological disease, however, Staphylococcus aureus is the most important and lethal agent (Jaradat et al., 2014) that causes chronic and deep infections in mammary tissue and becomes difficult to treat successfully and it is responsible for dairy scourge in the livestock industry (Hussain et al., 2012a; Raza et al., 2013). Staphylococcus aureus is the most commonly isolated pathogen in subclinical mastitis (Amin et al., 2011; Dieser et al., 2014; Cengiz et al., 2015). Economic significance to dairy business on account of Staphylococcal udder infection results from the subclinical mastitis escorted with a decrease in milk quantity and quality (He et al., 2014; Kucukonder et al., 2015). Staphylococcus aureus remains a major issue under different tropical and sub-tropical management situations. Staphylococcus aureus possesses several proteins which are virulent in nature and transmits simply in lactating animals (Maksymiec and Mikolajczyk, 2012). Coagulase and spa proteins are virulence factors found in S. aureus which induces mastitis (Karahan et al., 2011) and spa is a surface protein of cell wall that impairs the opsonisation and the phagocytosis process by binding with IgG antibody (Gao and Stewart, 2004). Eradication of S. aureus is very difficult despite the conduction of intense measures for control purpose. Consequently, control of the S. aureus mastitis has fundamental importance and remains as essential (Waller et al., 2009; Hussain et al., 2013b; Jaradat et al., 2014). Several approaches regarding phenotyping and genotyping procedure are being used to sub-type the Staphylococcus Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 53(4), xxx-xxx; 2016 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI: 10.21162/PAKJAS/16.4828 http://www.pakjas.com.pk