African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus and the sole member of the Asfarviridae family. ASFV infects domestic pigs, wild boars, warthogs, and bush pigs, as well as soft ticks (Ornithodoros erraticus), which likely act as a vector. The major target is swine monocyte-macrophage cells. The virus can cause high fever, haemorrhagic lesions, cyanosis, anorexia, and even fatalities in domestic pigs. Currently, there is no vaccine and effective disease control strategies against its spread are culling infected pigs and maintaining high biosecurity standards. African swine fever (ASF) spread to Europe from Africa in the middle of the 20ᵗʰ century, and later also to South America and the Caribbean. Since then, ASF has spread more widely and thus is still a great challenge for swine breeding. The genome of ASFV ranges in length from about 170 to 193 kbp depending on the isolate and contains between 150 and 167 open reading frames (ORFs). The ASFV genome encodes 150 to 200 proteins, around 50 of them structural. The roles of virus structural proteins in viral infection have been described. These proteins, such as pp220, pp62, p72, p54, p30, and CD2v, serve as the major component of virus particles and have roles in attachment, entry, and replication. All studies on ASFV proteins lay a good foundation upon which to clarify the infection mechanism and develop vaccines and diagnosis methods. In this paper, the roles of ASFV structural proteins in viral infection are reviewed.

Periodontal disease is the most common oral disease in cats. The objectives of this study were to determine the relationships between gingivitis and dental calculus thickness (DCT), or dental calculus coverage (DCC); determine the association of gingivitis scores and types of oral bacteria; and to evaluate bacterial co-infection in cats with periodontal disease. Twelve cats that were not infected with feline leukemia or feline immunodeficiency viruses were enrolled in the study. Gingivitis, DCT, and DCC were scored and recorded. A Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare scores among canine, 2nd premolar, 3rd premolar, 4th premolar, and 1st molar teeth. The relationship between gingivitis and DCT or DCC scores was determined using the Spearman rank sum test (ρ). Subgingival bacteria were cultured and the association between bacterial species and gingivitis score was evaluated using a Fisher's exact test. The average gingivitis, DCT, and DCC scores for the caudal maxillary teeth were higher for the caudal mandibular teeth and more severe for the 3rd premolar, 4th premolar, and 1st molar teeth than for the canine teeth. A strong relationship between average DCT or DCC score and average gingivitis score was found (ρ = 0.96 and 1, respectively). Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial infections were identified in a large number of cats with periodontal disease (71.1% and 28.9%, respectively). In conclusion, severe gingivitis scores were associated with anaerobic bacterial infection. The caudal teeth are affected with more severe gingivitis, DCT, and DCC than the other teeth. Antibiotic prophylaxis should be prescribed in cats with periodontal disease.

A cross-sectional study was designed to determine the level ofawareness of selected dairy farmers to herd health program (HHP) and compliance in the Program LadangAngkat (PLA). The study also determined the association between farmers’ awareness and compliance in promoting herd health. An open-ended questionnaire was randomlyadministered to five dairy cattle farms within Selangor and Negeri Sembilan as representative dairy farms enlisted into the PLA of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The mean herd size of the farms was 102.20±20.80, with a range of 30-160 heads of dairy cattle, having an average mean number of milking cows at 29.40±11.22. There was a higher (p<0.05) mean herd health awareness level (72.86±5.78%) among the farmers once compared with the mean compliance level (61.2 ± 4.1%) for 10 out of the 14 HHP components; with the lowest compliances being disease monitoring programme(33.20%) and biosecurity (39.9%). There was a significant (p<0.05), direct, weak positive correlation (r = 0.245; p = 0.042) between farmers’ awareness and farmers’ compliance to the 14 components of the HHP. This study highlights an appreciable level of awareness among dairy farmers in the PLA, with a relatively low compliancelevels to the HHP components.

A study was carried out to report the phylogenetic analysis of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensisby using molecular techniques from samples submitted to the Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Bukit Tengah.In this study, identification and genetic characterization of Brucella isolated samples using molecular analysis based on IS711 sequence between localisolates and foreign countries accesses in GenBank was done successfully. A total of 31 samples were isolated for Brucella species and then were amplified byPCR, directly sequenced and compared genetically to published sequences which were obtained from GenBank. The most common Brucella species that was found in both bovine (76.5%) and caprine (85.7%) through diagnostic samples in Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Bukit Tengah, was Brucella melitensis. PCR and sequencing were confirmed positive with 76.5% for Brucella melitensis, 23.5% for Brucella abortus and 23.5% for mixed infectionfrom the total of 17 bovine samples. In caprine, the detection of Brucella melintesis and Brucella abortus showed 85.7% and 21.4% respectively meanwhile total mixedinfection showed 21.4%. These clustering between local isolates of Brucella melitensis were phylogenetically related to other Asian countries such as Singapore,Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The Neighbour Joining Analysis clustered the Brucella abortus local isolates for both bovine and caprine were most closely related to India,Iran, Italy and USA. Interestingly, all the isolates within Malaysia have a close relationship (>95%) with the low level of genetic diversity. When local isolates arecompared to GenBank data, it gives an indication on the possible sources of these infections. Eventually, it will improve the import and export policies to controlbrucellosis in Malaysia.

Goose Parvovirus (GPV) also known as Derzy’s disease is aninfectious viral disease of waterfowl which causes serious economic loss in industrial production of geese and Muscovy ducks. In year 2014, Derzy’s disease was detected in Pekin ducks from Sarawak. The affected farm recorded up to 50% mortality, affecting only young ducklings (starting at the age of 3 weeks). Polymerase chainreaction (PCR) from liver samples were performed based on partial region of VP3 gene of GPV, generated amplicon of 801 bp. Sequence analysis showed that the isolate shared 99% sequence similaritywith goose parvovirus strain YBLJ and YZYZ20130304 from China. Phylogeny based on VP3 showed that this isolate is grouped under Asian strains. This is the first report of GPV in Malaysia focusingon the molecular analysis. Notably, this study revealed that GPV not only can be detected from goose and Muscovy but also from Pekin duck.

In most countries, poultry are reared by traditional farmers d ue tothe relative minimum capital needed to start off, availability of feed and the fast period of the birds to grow. This research was conducted on turkeys which aims to study the abundance and prevalence of ectoparasites from three localities around Kedah, Malaysia. Atotal of 20 turkeys (eight males and twelve females) were examined for ectoparasites infestation and endoparasites infection.Six species of ectoparasites: five lice and a mite have been discovered. The most prevalent ectoparasite was Menopon gallinae with occurrence of 45%. Other external parasites recorded includeLipeurus caponis and Megninia cubitalis with occurrence of 40%, Menacanthus pallidulus (35%), Goniocotes gallinae (30%) and Chelopistes meleagridis (20%). There was a significant difference between the ectoparasite abundance in Jabatan Perkhidmatan Veterinar and Alor Belat Barat [ANOVA, F(2,17)=6.33, p=0.009]. These lice commonly found in the fluff of the feathers, especially at the neck,abdomen, and wings. Lipeurus caponis was found to have the highest infestation in all male and female turkeys and Menacanthus pallidulus was noted as the less common ectoparasite infesting both the male andfemale turkeys. Endoparasite infection was recorded in two species of parasite eggs of nematodes and protozoa. Oocyst of Eimeria spp. recorded the highest faecal egg count with 7300 epg compared to Capillaria spp. with only 1200 epg. Scavenging and pecking behaviour of turkeys in barn area with unsuitable farm housing environmentwere the major contributing factors to the infestation of ectoparasites as well as endoparasites infection.

Nematodes resistant to anthelmintics are of increasing concern to sheep farms in Malaysia. Thus to ascertain the degree of anthelmintic resistance in the sheep population, faecal egg count reduction (FECR) trials were conducted on sheep in the Veterinary Institute, Kluang. A total of 60 weaned sheep were selected and divided into six (6) equivalent groups. Group A was treated with ivermectin, Group B with Closantel, Group C with Fenbendazole, Group D with Levamisole, Group E with Cydectin and the remaining 10 were untreated controls. Faecal samples were collected from each sheep before treatment and repeated on day 14, 30, 45 and 60 post treatment. The worm egg counts were estimated by using McMaster’s method. The population of worm was classified as resistant if the adjusted percentage reduction was less than 90%. It is concluded that only levamisole can be used for helminthiasis control. The results showed that worms at the Sheep Unit of the Veterinary Institute, Kluang was suspected to be resistant to Ivermectin, Closantel and Cydectin. The worm population showed total resistance to fenbendazole. The strongyle population is mainly made up of 80% Haemonchus contortus and 20% of species were Oesophagostomum and Bunostomum.