Mortality and disease status in Hy-Line (n= 3450) and ISA-Brown (n = 250) strains of layer chickens were carried out in three commercial layer farms in the district of Mymensingh from day-old to 65 weeks age of birds from September 2003 to December 2004. The management including housing, hygienic measures, vaccination practices, diseases occurred and mortality were observed and recorded daily. Diseases and disorders were diagnosed based on the disease history, clinical signs, characteristics necropsy lesions, morbidity and mortality rates, and laboratory investigations including bacteriological and parasitological examinations. The morbidity and mortality of chickens caused by different diseases and disorders were statistically analyzed on the basis of farms, strains of birds, age and seasons. An overall 32.38% (n = 1198) morbidity and 21.30% (n = 788) mortality was recorded among 3700 chickens. Etiological analysis showed that the highest mortality caused by bacterial diseases (7.08%), followed by viral diseases (5

Brucellosis is an important disease caused by gram- negative bacteria Brucella that are pathogenic for a wide variety of animals and human. The disease is also called ‘Malta fever', ‘Mediterranean fever or undulant fever'. The main domestic animals that are affected are cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs (Moore and Schnurrenberger, 1981; Young, 1995; OIE, 2000). The principal manifestations of animal brucellosis are reproductive failure, i.e, abortion and birth of unthrifty offspring in females, and orchitis and epididymitis in males. Brucellosis in human being is usually characteristics by influenza like clinical disease, which may be severe and may be followed by chronic intermittent relapses (Hugh-Jones, 2000). The genus Brucella has six recognized species on the basis of host specificity. Among all six species of Brucella, the greatest economic impact results from bovine brucellosis caused by B. abortus. Brucellosis in cattle is usually caused by biovars of B. abortus. In some countries, particularly in southern Europe and Western Asia, where cattle are kept in close association with sheep or goats, infection can also be caused by B. melitensis (OIE, 2000). doi:10.3329/bjvm.v4i1.1517 Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2006). 4 (1): 01-06

The study was conducted to isolate the Dermatophilus species from the skin disease of cattle in and around BAU campus during the period from May 2008 to April 2009. A total of 105 skin diseased cattle head were examined where 68 were male and 37 were female ranging from 1 month to12 years of ages. 11 (10.476%) patients were found to have typical lesions of Bovine Dermatophilosis. The rural household farm, young, male and the indigenous cattle were more susceptible. The Dermatophilus species were found Gram positive, branching and filamentous typical form of mycelial elements in Giemsa's staining. It was less visible in Gram's staining. The isolated agents produced only acid from dextrose but did not produce acid and gas from lactose, mannitol, maltose and sucrose. The catalase and the urease test were positive but indole test was negative. β-hemolysis also appeared in early stage on blood agar. The isolated agents were more sensitive to Amoxicillin (70%) followed by Ampicillin (60%) and Cephalexin (60%). Kanamycin (10%) and Ciprofloxacin (10%) was the lowest sensitive to it.

The study was conducted to isolate and identify the presence of Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains in water samples of the Old Brahmaputra River and Sewage water at Mymensingh Municipality. A total of 20 water samples were collected for this experiment. Samples were cultured on EMB agar, stained and PCR was done to detect the pathogenic E. coli. The Old Brahmaputra River is used as a sink of all types of municipal sewage, agricultural wastes, domestic wastes and religious ritual wastes through unplanned sewerage to the river water body. Low quality sanitation system and open defecation are also considerable problems to deteriorate river water quality. Due to accumulation of municipal untreated wastes to river body, it is possible to contain various pathogens. After investigation and identification, fourteen isolates of E. coli was found to contain stx-1 gene with none of stx-2 gene among twenty isolates which indicate pathogenic STEC. There may present major health risk to human and animal due to STEC. Several human diseases like mild diarrhea, bloody diarrhea or even severe hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) may occur for drinking of untreated river water. Domestic ruminants can act as a reservoir for STEC and play a significant role in the epidemiology of human infections.

Groundwater is one of the most important natural resources which plays a vital role for drinking and irrigation usages. Evaluation of groundwater quality determines its suitability for different purposes. An investigation was carried out to evaluate the quality of groundwater for irrigation and drinking usages based on the various water quality parameters. Groundwater samples were collected from forty different sites of Kazipur upazila under the district of Sirajganj during the periods from January 20 to January 28, 2018 maintaining the distance between each of two sites as more than one kilometer. Different physiochemical parameters including pH, EC, TDS, Ca²+, Mg²+, K+, Na+, Mn²+, Fe²+, CO3²ˉ, HCO3ˉ, Clˉ, SO4²ˉ and PO4³ˉ contents were analyzed. The pH values of the groundwater samples were non-problematic for irrigation as well as drinking purposes. The obtained electrical conductivity values of the samples were within the limit of 150.0 to 754.0 µS cm-1. The samples of four sites i.e., Noapara, Meghai bazar, Salabora and Drigidrota were categorized as low salinity and the rests as medium salinity, with low alkalinity hazards. Total dissolved solids varied from 65.0 to 309.0 mg L-1 which categorized the samples as freshwater and non-problematic. All the samples were identified as excellent class based on sodium adsorption ratio (range: 0.12 ~ 0.66). Based on soluble sodium percentages, 97.5% of the samples were classified as excellent. Residual sodium carbonate values (–8.60 ~ –1.68) of the samples were suitable for irrigation. Permeability index (range: 14.78 ~ 49.73) categorized half portion of the samples as class-II and remaining as class-I which implied the samples as suitable for irrigation usages. About 10% of samples were medium hard, 70% were hard and rests were very hard in quality. Fe2+ content ranged from 0.23 to 21.75 mg L-1 with a mean value of 5.29 mg L-1. The detected Fe2+ content of 14 water samples was above the permissible limit. Mn2+ concentration (1.58 mg L-1) was considered as hazardous for long-term irrigation purpose in most of the samples because of exceeding the recommended limit (0.20 mg L-1). As per K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3ˉ, Clˉ, SO42ˉ and PO43ˉ status, all the samples can safely be used for irrigation and drinking purposes. The assessment showed high levels of Fe2+ and Mn2+ in groundwater samples that are responsible to make the groundwater unsafe for irrigation and drinking purposes. J Bangladesh Agril Univ 17(3): 309–318, 2019