Giardiasis: Serum antibodies and coproantigens in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Grenada, West Indies

Research (Published online: 12-03-2018)

6. Giardiasis: Serum antibodies and coproantigens in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Grenada, West Indies

Keshaw Tiwari, Camille Coomansingh Springer, Alfred Chikweto, Josephine Tang, Yvette Sepulveda, Amanda Leigh Smith, Nia Rametta and Ravindra Nath Sharma

Veterinary World, 11(3): 293-296

ABSTRACT

Aim: Giardia is a serious zoonotic parasite, which causes diarrheal disease in humans and animals including rodents. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of Giardia spp. in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Grenada.

Materials and Methods: Intestinal contents from 99 and serum samples from 169 brown rats (R. norvegicus) from Grenada were collected. These samples were examined for the Giardia coproantigens using Cryptosporidium/Giardia Quik Chek assay (Tech lab® Inc., USA), and the serum was screened through an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kit for Giardia antibody (anti-GD) ELISA kit (MyBioSource, San Diego, CA, USA).

Results: Giardia coproantigens were positive in 17.17% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 10.33-26.06%) rats, whereas 55% (95% CI: 47.20-62.68) were positive with serum antibodies (anti-GD) to Giardia.

Conclusion: The prevalence of Giardia spp. in brown rats in Grenada was moderate based on the presence of coproantigens in the intestinal contents and antibody in serum. The findings of Giardia infections and prevalence in brown rats will help veterinarians and physicians to better plan diagnostic and preventative strategies. This is the first report of prevalence of Giardia in brown rats in Grenada.

Keywords: antibody, brown rat, coproantigens, Giardia, Grenada.

Bovine cysticercosis and human taeniasis: Animal-human health and economic approach with treatment trends in Kombolcha Town, Wollo, Ethiopia

Research (Published online: 07-03-2018)

3. Bovine cysticercosis and human taeniasis: Animal-human health and economic approach with treatment trends in Kombolcha Town, Wollo, Ethiopia

Aragaw Tegegne, Adem Hiko and Kemal Kedir Elemo

International Journal of One Health, 4: 15-21

ABSTRACT

Background and Aim: Bovine cysticercosis and human taeniasis accounted for parasitic zoonotic implications with economic losses from organ contamination and treatment cost. The disease is common where hygienic conditions are poor and the inhabitants traditionally eat raw or insufficiently cooked meat under inadequate community awareness on the associated risk factors for the occurrences of infections in developing countries such as Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess bovine cysticercosis and Taenia saginata human taeniasis considering animal-human health and economic approach with treatment trends in Kombolcha Town, Wollo, Ethiopia.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in cattle slaughtered at Kombolcha ELFORA abattoir from November 2016 to April 2017. A questionnaire survey was applied for community awareness, exposure risk, and treatment trends for taeniasis assessment in Kombolcha Town with economic losses from organ condemnation, and drug cost for taeniasis treatments were estimated.

Results: Of the 234 examined carcasses, 21 (8.97%) were found infected with bovine cysticercosis. Organ distribution of the cysts showed highest proportions in liver 40 (29.2%), followed by heart 26 (18.9%), tongue 22 (16.1%), masseter muscle 20 (14.6%), triceps 15 (10.9%), diaphragm 9 (6.7%), and lung 5 (3.6%). Both male, i.e., 15 (6.4%), and female, i.e., 6 (12.8%), were infected. Regardless of sample size, Cysticercus bovis infection was found 8 (21.62%) in adults and 13 (6.60%) older aged. Of 110 interviewed individuals, about 31.8% aware of taeniasis and they also have exposure risk for taeniasis with no differences (p>0.05) within studied demography. The majorities (54.3%) of exposed groups use pharmaceutical drugs, while 28.6% use herbal medicine, but 17.2% use both for treatment. Of 31,469 clinical cases in Kombolcha Town, 22 (0.07%) were positive for taeniasis over the year 2016. An inventory of pharmaceutical shops revealed the supply of 6998 adult taenicidal drug doses for a cost of 19,621.00 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) where mebendazole and albendazole were the most frequent. A total annual economic loss of 1,841,311.00 ETB (73,652.44 USD) consisting of 1,831,890.00 ETB from organ condemnation and 19,421.00 ETB from taenicidal drug cost was estimated.

Conclusion: The present finding indicates the need for community awareness creation regarding the disease condition, associated risk factors, and application of environmental hygiene which could bring a paramount reduction of diseases in human and beef industry which prevent the associated economic loss.

Keywords: abattoir, Cysticercus bovis, economic loss, Ethiopia, Kombolcha, taeniasis.

Androctonus genus species in arid regions: Ecological niche models, geographical distributions, and envenomation risk

Research (Published online: 06-03-2018)

5. Androctonus genus species in arid regions: Ecological niche models, geographical distributions, and envenomation risk

Moulay Abdelmonaim El Hidan, Oulaid Touloun, Abdellah Bouazza, Mehdi Ait Laaradia and Ali Boumezzough

Veterinary World, 11(3): 286-292

ABSTRACT

Aim: The objective of this study was to establish environmental factors related to scorpion species occurrence and their current potential geographic distributions in Morocco, to produce a current envenomation risk map and also to assess the human population at risk of envenomation.

Materials and Methods: In this study, 71 georeferenced points for all scorpion species and nine environmental indicators were used to generate species distribution models in Maxent (maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions) version 3.3.3k. The models were evaluated by the area under the curve (AUC), using the omission error and the binomial probability. With the data generated by Maxent, distribution and envenomation risk maps were produced using the "ESRI® ArcGIS 10.2.2 for Desktop" software.

Results: The models had high predictive success (AUC >0.95±0.025). Altitude, slope and five bioclimatic attributes were found to play a significant role in determining Androctonus scorpion species distribution. Ecological niche models (ENMs) showed high concordance with the known distribution of the species. Produced risk map identified broad risk areas for Androctonus scorpion envenomation, extending along Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, Souss-Massa-Draa, and some areas of Doukkala-Abda and Oriental regions.

Conclusion: Considering these findings ENMs could be useful to afford important information on distributions of medically important scorpion species as well as producing scorpion envenomation risk maps.

Keywords: Androctonus genus, ecological niche models, Morocco, risk maps, scorpion envenomation.

Prevalence of American foulbrood in asymptomatic apiaries of Kurdistan, Iran

Research (Published online: 05-03-2018)

4. Prevalence of American foulbrood in asymptomatic apiaries of Kurdistan, Iran

M. Khezri, M. Moharrami, H. Modirrousta, M. Torkaman, B. Rokhzad and H. Khanbabaie

Veterinary World, 11(3): 281-285

ABSTRACT

Aim: Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae is the etiological agent of American foulbrood (AFB), the most virulent bacterial disease of honey bee brood worldwide. In many countries, AFB is a notifiable disease since it is highly contagious, in most cases incurable, and able to kill affected colonies. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of P. larvae subsp. larvae in Kurdistan province apiaries by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.

Materials and Methods: A total of 100 samples were randomly purchased from apiaries in Kurdistan, Iran. Apiaries were randomly sampled in accordance with the instructions of the veterinary organization from different provinces and were tested using PCR method and an exclusive primer of 16S rRNA for the presence of P. larvae subsp. larvae.

Results: The results of this study indicated a low level of contamination with P. larvae subsp. larvae in the Kurdistan province. The number of positive samples obtained by PCR was 2%.

Conclusion: Therefore, monitoring programs for this honeybee disease in Kurdistan should be developed and implemented to ensure that it is detected early and managed.

Keywords: American foulbrood, honeybee, Kurdistan province, Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae, polymerase chain reaction.

Prevailing practices in the use of antibiotics by dairy farmers in Eastern Haryana region of India

Research (Published online: 04-03-2018)

3. Prevailing practices in the use of antibiotics by dairy farmers in Eastern Haryana region of India

Vikash Kumar and Jancy Gupta

Veterinary World, 11(3): 274-280

ABSTRACT

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the antibiotic use in dairy animals and to trace its usage pattern among the small, medium, and large dairy farmers in Eastern Haryana region of India.

Materials and Methods: Karnal and Kurukshetra districts from Eastern region of Haryana state were purposively selected, and four villages from each district were selected randomly. From each village, 21 farmers were selected using stratified random sampling by categorizing into small, medium, and large farmers constituting a total of 168 farmers as respondents. An antibiotic usage index (AUI) was developed to assess usage of antibiotics by dairy farmers.

Results: Frequency of veterinary consultancy was high among large dairy farmers, and they mostly preferred veterinarians over para-veterinarians for treatment of dairy animals. Small farmers demanded low-cost antibiotics from veterinarians whereas large farmers rarely went for it. Antibiotics were used maximum for therapeutic purposes by all categories of farmers. Completion of treatment schedules and follow-up were strictly practiced by the majority of large farmers. AUI revealed that large farmers were more consistent on decision-making about prudent use of antibiotics. Routine use of antibiotics after parturition to prevent disease and sale of milk without adhering to withdrawal period was responsible for aggravating the antibiotic resistance. The extent of antibiotic use by small farmers depended on the severity of disease. The large farmers opted for the prophylactic use of antibiotics at the herd level.

Conclusion: Antibiotic usage practices were judicious among large dairy farmers, moderately prudent by medium dairy farmers and faulty by small farmers. The frequency of veterinary consultancy promoted better veterinary-client relationship among large farmers.

Keywords: antibiotic usage, treatment schedules, veterinary consultancy, withdrawal period.

Semi-nested polymerase chain reaction-based detection of Babesia spp. in small ruminants from Northwest of Iran

Research (Published online: 03-03-2018)

2. Semi-nested polymerase chain reaction-based detection of Babesia spp. in small ruminants from Northwest of Iran

Ahad Bazmani, Amir Abolhooshyar, Abbas Imani-Baran and Hamid Akbari

Veterinary World, 11(3): 268-273

ABSTRACT

Aim: The present study aimed to detect Babesia ovis and Babesia motasi in the blood samples of sheep and goats from Northwest of Iran by the semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.

Materials and Methods: A total of 166 whole blood samples (including 123 sheep and 43 goats) were collected. In the first stage, the PCR was performed to amplify a piece of 18S rRNA gene of Babesia and Theileriagenera. Then, semi-nested PCR was carried out on all PCR products to differentiate B. ovis and B. motasi.

Results: The PCR indicated that totally, 19 (11.44%) out of 166 samples were positive for Babesia or Theileria spp. The semi-nested PCR showed that 38 samples (22.89%) were positive only for B. ovis. No significant association was found between the infection rate of B. ovis and age, gender and species of animals.

Conclusion: In the present study, there was no evidence for B. motasi infection in small ruminants from Northwest of Iran. Therefore, B. ovis was the main causative agent of ovine Babesiosis in this region.

Keywords: Babesia motasi, Babesia ovis, Iran, semi-nested polymerase chain reaction, small ruminants.

Modeling the potential risk factors of bovine viral diarrhea prevalence in Egypt using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses

Research (Published online: 02-03-2018)

1. Modeling the potential risk factors of bovine viral diarrhea prevalence in Egypt using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses

Abdelfattah M. Selim, Mahmoud M. Elhaig, Sherif A. Moawed and Ehab El-Nahas

Veterinary World, 11(3): 259-267

ABSTRACT

Aim: The present cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and potential risk factors associated with Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) disease in cattle and buffaloes in Egypt, to model the potential risk factors associated with the disease using logistic regression (LR) models, and to fit the best predictive model for the current data.

Materials and Methods: A total of 740 blood samples were collected within November 2012-March 2013 from animals aged between 6 months and 3 years. The potential risk factors studied were species, age, sex, and herd location. All serum samples were examined with indirect ELIZA test for antibody detection. Data were analyzed with different statistical approaches such as Chi-square test, odds ratios (OR), univariable, and multivariable LR models.

Results: Results revealed a non-significant association between being seropositive with BVDV and all risk factors, except for species of animal. Seroprevalence percentages were 40% and 23% for cattle and buffaloes, respectively. OR for all categories were close to one with the highest OR for cattle relative to buffaloes, which was 2.237. Likelihood ratio tests showed a significant drop of the -2LL from univariable LR to multivariable LR models.

Conclusion: There was an evidence of high seroprevalence of BVDV among cattle as compared with buffaloes with the possibility of infection in different age groups of animals. In addition, multivariable LR model was proved to provide more information for association and prediction purposes relative to univariable LR models and Chi-square tests if we have more than one predictor.

Keywords: bovine viral diarrhea, likelihood ratio test, logistic regression, odds ratio, seroprevalence.