No abstract

Use of highly discriminatory microbiological methods has allowed us to identify S. pseudintermedius as an emerging potential pathogen of zoonotic origin. " "Up until recently, few data were available for human S. pseudintermedius isolates."

Bovine brucellosis is an endemic disease in Sri Lanka, caused by Brucella abortus and had been reported all part of the country for last six decades. Since available biovar is still unknown, the objective of the study was to identify the biovar of B.abortus from sporadically aborted cattle and buffaloes. Samples were collected from 18 aborted herds out of 19 herds of Cattle and Buffaloes in the year 2010. Rose Bengal plate test and Compliment Fixation test were carried out. Milk, vaginal swabs, placental contents and aborted fetus were collected and cultured by conventional bacteriological methods. The detection of biovars were based on growth on Thionin and Bacto fuschin,CO requirement, H S 2 2 production, serum agglutination with Brucella negative, A,M and R reference antiserum. Eighteen herds investigated out of 19 herds reported, 11 herds were serologically positive for brucellosis (61.11%) and only Brucella abortus were isolated from 8 individuals from six herds. All were identified as Biovar 3 of Brucella abortus.

Monkeypox is an emerging and neglected zoonotic disease. The importance of the disease has been highlighted in the recent past as there have been a significant number of cases reported in North America, South America, and Europe. The disease is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the family of Poxviridae. The virus was identified in 1958 in captive monkeys at a research institute in Denmark and human infection was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1970. The first set of clinical cases of monkeypox outside the African continent was reported in the USA, UK, Israel, and Singapore. Two distinct clades of monkeypox virus have been identified and two models of transmission have been reported as animal to human and human to human transmission. The transmission occurs through direct contact, contaminated body fluids, and contaminated respiratory droplets. Generally, human gets the infection through direct contact with the infected animal or contaminated materials. Furthermore, human to human transmission of monkeypox has been reported through placental membranes, direct contact with skin, and through fomite. Nosocomial infection has also been reported in humans while speculatory evidence was found on sexual transmission in humans. The exact animal reservoirs of monkeypox have not been identified, non-human primates and rodents had been suggested for harbouring the virus in the environment as rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian pouched rats and dormice. During the first five days, fever, lymphadenopathy, back pain, extreme headache, myalgia (muscle ache), and severe asthenia (energy shortage) are reported in the infected humans. The macular-papular lesions appear in the first 1 - 3 days of fever and develop into to fluidfilled blisters. The blisters rupture and crusts develop within 10 days. The nonsymptomatic disease has been reported with an unknown prevalence in humans. Smallpox vaccines were shown to have cross protection against monkeypox infection in humans. In addition, the same vaccine can be used prophylactically since the vaccine reduces the emergence of clinical signs of monkeypox infection in humans. Furthermore, immunoglobulin derived from the vaccinia virus is also used as postexposure therapy in an exposed population.

Background: Salmonellosis is considered as one of the most important diseases in poultry as it causes devastating losses in chicken industry. Proper identification of the infected and carrier birds is required to control the disease among chickens. In field situation whole blood agglutination test is performed in order to identify carriers of Pullorum and Fowl typhoid particularly, in breeder operations. In this test, serum antibodies are detected by using a specially made antigen for this purpose. In Sri Lanka, three antigen products are used commonly in whole blood agglutination test. Aim: This study was carried out to compare these two locally available S. Pullorum antigen products and to determine any difference in the efficacy. Materials and Methods:"Shaver Brown" commercial layer birds (70 in number) were used in the experiment. Birds were