No abstract

Aim: The information on the effect of multiple stress and caprine pneumonia especially in a hot humid environment is limited in literature. Material and Methods: Sixteen goats were divided into 4 groups. Group A were subjected to 8 hours and 3 hours transportation, group B to 8 hours transport stress once and dexamethasone injection, group C to 8 hours transport only while group D was the control. All goats were observed for respiratory signs while temperature was monitored daily. Dead ones were necropsied while the survivors and the goats in group D were sacrificed on day 21. The clinical, gross, histopathological, immunohistochemical scores were according to standard methods. Results: The mean total clinical score was higher in group B than group A, C and D. Two goats of the groups A, B and C goats died 21, 14 and 7 days post treatment. The dead goats in groups A, B, C had lung lesions typical of pneumonic pasteurellosis. An average of the lung consolidation of dead animals in group A was 15%, in group B, 8.5% and group C, 6.5% mostly involving the anterior and ventral parts of the lungs of the lung. The immunostaining results was also similar with all the lung samples positive for both P. multocida and M. haemolytica especially in the groups A, B, C with enhanced severity in A > B > C. Conclusions: This further buttress the need to reduce stress in farm animals and the emergence of P. multocida over M. haemolytica in the epidemiology of bacterial caprine pneumonia in stressed goats in Malaysia. [Vet World 2013; 6(8.000): 497-501

Early and accurate diagnosis of Brucella melitensis is essential for the treatment and control of brucellosis both in animals and humans. The thrust for the development of a rapid diagnostic technique to overcome the limitations of conventional microbiological and serological tests brought about this investigation on the development and application of dot-ELISA for antigen and antibody detection in infected goats. Fifteen apparently healthy Boer aged 2-3 years which tested negative for brucellosis using PCR and ELISA, were grouped into A (10 goats infected intraocularly with 10 CFU of B. melitensis) and B (5 goats) as control. Discharges (ocular, nasal, and vaginal) and blood were collected at days 3, 7, 10, 14, weekly until 42 post-infection (pi) for dot-ELISA, PCR, and RBPT. Dot-ELISA detected B. melitensis antigen and antibody in group A at day 3 and 7 pi, respectively with adequate sensitivity and specificity relative to PCR and RBPT. The bacteria shedding detected from discharges at day 3 pi in the nasal and ocular route with dot-ELISA. Group B were consistently negative. Values such as speed, simplicity, field adaptability, high sensitivity, and specificity make dot-ELISA a rapid and adequate technique for diagnosis of brucellosis in B. melitensis infected goats within few hours.

Aim: To identify and evaluate the shedding routes and patterns following experimentally-induced Brucella melitensis infection in dexamethasone-treated and transport-stressed goats. Materials and Methods:Twenty four healthy, adult goats were divided into 4 groups: A, B, C and D respectively. Group A 7 was treated with dexamethasone for 8 days prior to inoculation with 10 Colony Forming Units of B. melitensis via the intraocular route. Group B was transported for 3 hours prior to inoculation with a similar dose. Group C was inoculated with a similar dose without subjecting the animals to any prior treatment, and this group served as our positive control. Group D was not inoculated with the infective dose and served as our negative control. Blood samples along with nasal, ocular, and vaginal swabs were collected on days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, and weekly thereafter until day 63 post inoculation (pi) and were analyzed by PCR, Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT), and indirect ELISA techniques. Results:The nasal, ocular and vaginal swabs tested positive for Brucellosis with PCR from day 7, with nasal route being the first and most consistent route to reveal the positive results. Group B showed the earliest onset of shedding the bacterium (day 7) followed by group A which started from day 10 and shed relatively more positive of the bacterium via the routes examined. Blood samples tested positive with PCR from day 7 through 14 and the results were inconsistent subsequently. Sera samples tested positive with RBPT on day 14 in all the 3 infected groups but more consistent in group C. On the other hand, tests using ELISA showed positive results from day 7 pi, with group C having a 100% seroconvertion -while groups A and B showed only 50% seroconvertion. Conclusion:The consistent shedding via the nasal, ocular, and vaginal routes in groups A and B implied possible immunosuppression in the infected animals. We recommend that programs designed to control Brucellosis should consider analyzing a larger number of biological samples to enhance the accuracy of identification of shedders.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious, fatal, economically important, transboundary, viral disease of pigs caused by a DNA virus belonging to the genus Asfivirus and in the family Asfarviridae (Murphy et al., 1999). The first reported ASF outbreak in Nigeria was in 1998 at a farm located in Lagos (FAO, 1998;Odemuyiwa et al., 2000). The disease spread widely within the country and has become endemic resulting in huge economic losses to the pig industry (Fadiga et al., 2013;Igbokwe & Maduka, 2018). ASF is a very fatal disease that can cause up to 100% mortality in a naïve pig population (Costard et al., 2009). Poor biosecurity, bad abattoir practices and extensive or free-range pig farming systems are known risk factors that facilitate the widespread dissemination of the disease in the country (Owolodun et al., 2010). In West Africa, ASF is reported more in domestic pig population, with humans and other fomites potentiating its spread with a one-time incidence in wild suids (Dixon et al., 2020;Luther et al., 2007). However, both domestic and wild pigs are susceptible to ASFV, but the wild