Toxoplasma gondii infections are prevalent in humans and warm-blooded animals. Maternal infections during pregnancy may have devastating consequences for transplacentally infected neonates. This study was conducted to examine the seroprevalence of antibodies to T. gondii in pregnant women of childbearing age and determine risk factors associated with pregnancy history, pet ownership, social and cultural factors at Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Samples were collected from 403 women and examined using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The overall prevalence of antibodies to T. gondii was 17.6% (71) in the 403 samples collected from women. Antibodies to T. gondii were present in 19.4% (45) of 232 pregnant women and 15.2% (26) of the samples from 171 non-pregnant women. This study identified miscarriage history, pet ownership, type of residence, marital status, source of drinking water and eating habits as significant (P < 0.05) risk factors associated with the presence of antibodies to T. gondii infection. Seroprevalence was not significantly different (P > 0.05) in women from different ethnic groups based upon lifestyle and culture.

Influenza viruses are circulating in equine species and continuous surveillance is needed to keep check on any future outbreak.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has become a very popular procedure for treating non-malignant diseases of gall-bladder. Short hospital stay and decreased postoperative pain are the benefits of laparoscopic technique as compared to open cholecystectomy. 1,2 Still, within first 24 postoperative hours, patients mostly complain of pain. 3,4 Numerous opioid as well as non-opioid analgesics have been used in order to reduce post-LC pain, with variable success rates. Pain is of parietal origin in open cholecystectomy. About 17-41% of the patients who underwent LC have to stay for at least only one day in the hospital due to postsurgical pain; and these patients take long time for rehabilitation. Specialists suggest multi-modal approach for treating the post LC pain as it is very complex entity. Multi-modal treatment approach for post-LC pain includes the empathy building; and explaining the procedure as well as its impediments to the patients, confidence building of patients, and administering of NSAIDs prior to the commencement of the surgical procedure. Other modalities for reducing the postoperative pain are perioperative administration of the opioid analgesics, local anesthetic infiltration of the incision sites, and peritoneal cavity irrigation with local anesthetics. It is still a challenge for the experts to provide effective post-LC analgesia.Peritoneal cavity irrigation with various local anesthetic drugs for post-LC analgesia has become a very popular practice in past few years. In some studies, highly concentrated bupivacaine in low volumes, i.e. 20ml in 100ml normal saline was used to achieve post-LC analgesia; but the duration of post-operative analgesia was not sufficiently long. [5][6][7][8] On the other hand, diluted bupivacaine in huge volumes i.e. 20ml in 500ml normal saline was used to achieve post-LC analgesia and the duration of postoperative was effectively long and depth of analgesia was also adequate. 9 Large volumes can reach all the areas in the sub-hepatic region and produce adequate analgesia, which can be the ultimate reason for promising results in the study, using large volumes of diluted local anesthetic.

Infection with the Apicomplexan parasite Neospora caninum occurs in domestic and wild animals worldwide. This parasite causes significant economic losses in the dairy industry worldwide. The current study was designed to assess the prevalence of N. caninum antibodies in the sera of camels (Camelus dromedarius) from Rakh Mahni, Bhakkar, Pakistan, to better understand the epidemiology of this important cause of bovine abortion in Pakistan. Eighty-one sera samples collected from apparently healthy camels (male = 19, female = 62) were tested for antibodies against N. caninum by using a commercially available competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay diagnostic kit. Nine (11.1%) of 81 sera samples were found positive for antibodies to N. caninum. No significant (P > 0.05) difference in seroprevalence was observed between male and female camels or between different breeds. An increasing trend of seropositivity to N. caninum was seen with the age of animals indicating postnatal exposure to N. caninum infection. However, this increase in prevalence was not significant (P > 0.05). However, a significant (P < 0.05) difference in seroprevalence was noted among feeding style of animals, i.e., stall feeding, grazing, and mixed (grazing and stall feeding) feeding style. The prevalence was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in female animals 26.1% (6/23) with abortion history that of animals have had no such history 5.1% (2/39). Presence of antibodies to N. caninum in the sera of camels indicates that further studies are required to evaluate the importance of N. caninum as a cause of abortion or neonatal disease in these animals.

Little is known about the prevalence of protozoan parasites in the muscles of rock pigeons (Columbia livia). The muscles from 54 (heart from 45 and breast from 54) rock pigeons were examined for DNA of Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, and Sarcocystis species using PCR. Twenty-four were female and 30 were males. The birds were part of flocks of pigeons housed at the tombs of saints in Lahore, Pakistan. Birds that died or were euthanized due to poor health were submitted for necropsy at the Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, where DNA isolations and PCR were conducted. Nineteen (35.1%) of the birds were positive for T. gondii DNA. Seven males and 12 females were positive. Breast tissue was always infected in T. gondii positive birds, while the heart was infected in 13 (28.8%) of breast positive birds. Five (9.2%) of the pigeons, 2 males and 3 females, were positive for N. caninum. The distribution of N. caninum DNA was more variable in the muscles of pigeons than T. gondii and was found only in the heart of 1 (female), heart and breast muscle of 2 (male), and only the breast muscle of 2 birds (female). One of the 54 rock pigeons (female) was positive for both T. gondii (heart and breast) and N. caninum (heart only). Two of the positive Neospora caninum amplicons were sequenced and had 97% nucleotide identity with N. caninum isolates. Sarcocystis DNA was not found in any bird. The prevalence of T. gondii in rock pigeons and their predation by cats suggest that they may play an unrecognized role in maintaining environmental contamination with T. gondii oocysts by cats. Our study indicates that rock pigeons are intermediate hosts of N. caninum and this information will aid in understanding the epidemiology of N. caninum.