International Journal of Veterinary Science and Medicine最新文献

Parasitism is of great concern to the production, reproduction and performance of man and animals. The present study evaluated the parasitic conditions of rabbits brought for medical attention in the major Veterinary hospitals in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria during ten years (2006–2015). A total of 444 rabbits were brought during the study period, out of which 312 (70.27%) was diagnosed for mange, 126 (28.38%) for helminthoses, 60 (13.51%) for coccidiosis and 6 (1.35%) for flea infestation. There was no defined pattern in the yearly and monthly prevalence of these parasitic diseases. Age, sex and season were the statistically significant (P < 0.05) risk factors associated with the prevalence of helminthoses, while age and season were associated with mange at P < 0.05. There was a significant negative correlation in the co-infection of helminthoses and coccidiosis, helminthoses and mange, coccidiosis and mange, while the co-infection of helminthoses with flea infestation, coccidiosis with flea infestation and mange with flea infestation was not statistically significant. These findings could be useful for surveillance, monitoring and designing of appropriate interventions for diseases control in Osun State and Nigeria at large. The proper management, prevention, control and eradication of these disease conditions will improve the production and reproduction of rabbits for better profitability for farmers and increased availability of protein sources for consumers.

Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infections and associated diseases have been rarely studied in Africa. There is no report of PCV2 infection-associated morbidity and the level of awareness of stakeholders has never been investigated in Uganda. This cross sectional survey investigated the occurrence of Porcine Circovirus type 2 – systemic disease (PCV2-SD) among pigs and the associated level of awareness of stakeholders in Central Uganda. Data were collected using questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews and laboratory investigations. All respondents (n = 131) and farmers attending FGDs (n = 31) had never heard of PCV2-SD and only 16.7% (n = 2) of the interviewed animal health workers (n = 12) knew about the disease. Among the farms, 20 piglets presenting with a chronic wasting and a persistent diarrhea were detected and sampled for laboratory investigations. Severe lymphoid depletion with histiocytic and macrophage infiltration in lymphoid organs (n = 8), shortening of intestinal villi (n = 9), abscesses in various organs (n = 15) and granulomatous pneumonia (n = 2) were the major histopathological lesions described. Immunohistochemistry and PCR assays on organs with implicating lesions confirmed PCV2 infection in 25% (n = 5) of the 20 pigs. The study confirmed the occurrence of PCV2 infections among piglets with persistent diarrhea on pig farms in central Uganda and revealed a low level of associated knowledge among farmers and veterinary practitioners. The study arouses the need for systematic studies on prevalence of PCV2 infections and sensitization of stakeholders on occurrence of PCV2 infections in Uganda.

Currently available antiviral drugs have certain limitations. Therefore, silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have recently received an increasing attention with respect to their antibacterial and antiviral properties. This in-vitro study aimed to investigate the inhibition effect of Ag-NPs on viral replication (bovine herpesvirus-1; BoHV-1 as a model) and to determine the therapeutic, safe and cytotoxic concentrations. The cytotoxicity of MDBK cells induced by different Ag-NPs concentrations was investigated by using the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The infected, treated and cellular MDBK controls were stained with neutral red (NR) stain to monitor the cytopathic effects (CPEs) of BoHV-1 and the protective effects of Ag-NPs that inhibit the viral infections. Ag-NPs were safe for the MDBK cell culture at a concentration of 24 μg/mL medium. The highest concentrations were cellular toxic with different degrees. Also, Ag-NPs could protect the MDBK cell culture from BoHV-1 infection at a safety concentration (24 μg/mL medium) when incubate a mixture of Ag-NPs suspension and BoHV-1 prior infect cells. In conclusion, Ag-NPs can be used in vitro safely at the recommended concentration to protect the cellular culture against viral replications. Ag-NPs at nontoxic concentrations (24 μg/mL) are capable of inhibiting BoHV-1 when they are administered prior to viral infection.

Newcastle disease (ND) remains an important enzootic disease in chickens in several parts of the world. With the increasing reports of virulence and genetic diversity of the causative agent; Newcastle disease virus (NDV), there is a need to identify the circulating NDV in specific regions. In Oman, to this moment, such information is still lacking. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize the NDV from ND outbreaks from commercial farms in Oman. Following suspected outbreaks of ND in three commercial farms in 2017, a total of 30 carcasses (10 from each flock) of adult chickens were subjected to necropsy for gross and histopathological examination, virus isolation and molecular methods. Specifically, haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay were used for the virus detection and confirmation, respectively. Lesions were suggestive of viscerotropic velogenic form of ND based on gross and histopathological examinations. Isolation of NDV was present in 4 cases and further confirmed by RT-PCR following the target of the partial fusion protein gene of the viral genome. The sequence of the partial fusion gene was determined and phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the partial length F gene of 4 Omani isolates and 65 previously published NDVs. The findings predicted that the Omani isolates had high homology (99%) with the isolate from Pakistan belonging to genotype VII. Subsequently, the isolated pathotype was identified as the virulent NDV. This study serves as a basic work for further research on the analysis and phenotyping of NDV in the Sultanate of Oman. Improved monitoring and surveillance of the disease is important for proper preventive measures.