Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an infectious, eruptive, occasionally fatal disease of cattle caused by a virus of the family Poxviridae (genus Capripox), which is sometimes also termed as Neethling virus. LSD does not have a high fatality rate, usually less than 10%. LSD has an economical importance because of permanent damage to hides, the prolonged debilitating effect especially in severely affected animals with consequent losses resulting from reduced weight gain, temporary or permanent cessation of milk production as a result of mastitis, temporary or permanent infertility or even sterility in bulls as a consequence of orchitis, and abortion in approximately 10% of infected pregnant cows.

Helminths are a diverse group of parasitic worms in the body of animals andhuman. Infection of livestock with parasitic worms poses a great burden on thehealth of animals that eventually leads to great losses in the productivity of theseanimals and economic losses to the farmers. The control of helminthiasis isdependent almost solely on the use of anthelmintic drugs, due to the ease ofimplementation and low cost of therapy, compared to other methods of control.However, chemotherapy of parasitic worms is burdened with such problems as thedevelopment of anthelmintic resistance (AR). Many of the currently availableanthelmintic drugs have been in use for quite a long time and reports exhibiting thedevelopment of AR against them are increasing.Improving livestock management and, hence, productivity is a requirement in orderto compensate for the increasing world population, which will eventually lead toincreased demands for animal products. The tackling of AR needs to implementsuch methods as: (i) the systematic use of the currently available drugs, (ii) controlof animal pasture, (iii) promoting the breeding of animals that are naturallyresistant to certain types of helminths and (iv) development of new anthelminticdrugs by the pharmaceutical industry that have novel modes of action. Althougheach of these methods plays a part in the control program, chemotherapy willremain the cornerstone in the control program of helminth infections. Hence, thecontinuous supply of new antiparasitic compounds to the currently availableanthelmintic pool is the best strategy to be implemented in the fight againsthelminth infections.

The anti-Trypanosoma evansi activity of Garcinia hombroniana (seashore mangosteen) leaves aqueous extract was tested on experimentally infected Sprague-Dawley rats. Treatment of infected rats with G. hombroniana extract resulted in a significantly extended post-infection longevity (p < 0.05), compared to the untreated control group. The possible mode of antitrypanosomal effect of the plant extract was also investigated on cultured T. evansi in HMI-9 medium with the addition of 25 µg/ml G. hombroniana aqueous extract. It was observed that the addition of G. hombroniana extract resulted in the inhibition of trypanosomal kinetoplast division, with no significant inhibitory effect on nuclear division. It is concluded from the current study that the aqueous extract of G. hombroniana has a potential antitrypanosomal activity through the inhibition of kinetoplast division, as one of the possible mechanisms of its antitrypanosomal effect. This plant could serve as a possible source of new antitrypanosomal compounds.

A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), H5N1, was detected for the first time in peafowls in Kirkuk province, Iraq in 2015. Genetic analysis of the Kirkuk H5N1 indicated molecular markers for avian-type receptors. The Kirkuk H5N1 hemagglutinin gene had an infrequent amino acid cleavage site (SPQREKRRKRGLF), and neuraminidase genes showed sensitive molecular markers for antiviral drugs. Additionally, the phylogenetic analysis found that the Kirkuk H5N1 belonged to subclade 2.3.2.1c. Our results showed that the 2015 H5N1 from the Iraqi city of Kirkuk exhibited new genetic characterization and was different from the 2006 H5N1 isolate from Iraq.