BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is a common bacterial disease in humans and livestock, which leads to reduced production and reproductive disorders in ruminants and also causes major economic losses to villagers and farmers. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of different Leptospira interrogans serovars in ruminants population of Lorestan province and assess the role of environmental and host factors on the severity of the serological infection. METHODS: For this purpose, referring to livestock and sheep and goat flocks in different cities of Lorestan province, 691 blood samples were collected including 258 sheep, 195 goats and 238 cows, and then, the point of infection with seven different serovars of Leptospira interogans was assessed using microscopic agglutination test. Hosting factors such as age, gender and also environmental factors including geographical area, rainfall, temperature, relative humidity and altitude of sampling area from the sea level were recorded, and their probable role in the seroprevalence was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Results of this study showed that the overall prevalence of leptospirosis in cattle, sheep, and goats examined in the Lorestan province was 26.05 % (95 % CI: 19.7-31.23), 22.48 % (95 % CI: 16.95-25.16) and 14.87% (95 % CI: 9.37-20.36), respectively. There was no statistically significant (p < /em>>0.05) difference from the point of age groups and sexes. The most prevalent contaminant serovars for cows, sheep, and goats with seropositive reaction against leptospira were grippotyphosa (41.93%), canicola (32.76%) and canicola (48.27 %), respectively. The results showed environmental factors including relative humidity (p < /em>=0.02), annual rainfall (p < /em>=0.001) and altitude from the sea level of sampling location (p < /em>=0.03) have a significant effect but the annual temperature does not have a significant effect (p < /em><0.05) on the seroprevalence of Leptospira. Also, more positive reactive animals in the eastern and western areas of Lorestan province were found (p < /em>>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Leptospirosis is endemic in livestock population of Lorestan province and environmental factors play a significant role in the severity of infection, which increases the need for attention to the geographical areas at risk.

BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with a worldwide spread, which is very important from two aspects, health concerns in human societies and economic losses due to abortion, stillbirth, birth of weak calves,  Milk-drop syndrome and mastitis and death. The prevalence of an infection at the herd or animal level is a key issue that determines whether the infection should be considered important and which measures and policies should be made and applied. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this search is a meta-analysis study of  the prevalence of leptospirosis and serovars of leptospira interrogans in Iran. METHODS: The search was carried out by relevant literature search from 1997 to 2017 and by keywords: Iran, leptospira, cattle, sheep, goats, buffaloes, camel, and their combination in data banks of Magiran, SID, Iranmedex, PubMed and Google scholar. In this study, 39 articles were finally accepted. For statistical analysis, prevalence rates were entered in the Comprehensive Meta Analysis (CMA) software. RESULTS: The prevalence of leptospirosis in apparently healthy ruminants was 21.5% (95% CI: 17.8-25.8) and Grippotyphosa, Pomona and Canicola were the most prevalent. CONCLUSIONS: According to the high prevalence of pomona in our results, using this serovar in produced vaccines inside the country, applying preventive methods to control infection in herd dogs and gaining a share of the health system budget can have a good effect on for leptospira control program.

In developing countries, foetal wastage from slaughtered ruminants and the associated economic losses appear to be substantial. However, only a limited number of studies have comprehensively evaluated these trends. In the current study, secondary (retrospective) and primary data were collected and evaluated to estimate the prevalence of foetal wastage from cattle, sheep and goats slaughtered at an abattoir in Minna, Nigeria, over a 12-year period (January 2001 – December 2012). Time-series modelling revealed substantial differences in the rate of foetal wastage amongst the slaughtered species, with more lambs having been wasted than calves or kids. Seasonal effects seem to influence rates of foetal wastage and certain months in the year appear to be associated with higher odds of foetal wastage. Improved management systems are suggested to reduce the risk of foetal losses.

Introduction: A novel to Europe Schmallenberg virus (SBV) causes clinical disease manifested by reproduction disorders in farm ruminants. In free-living ruminants, SBV antibodies as well as the virus were detected. Recent studies also revealed SBV antibodies in wild boars. The study investigates SBV antibodies occurring in wild boars in Poland at the peak of recent virus epidemics in the country.Material and Methods: Samples collected from 203 wild boars culled during the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 hunting season were serologically tested using multi-species cELISA. Attempted neutralisation tests failed due to poor serum quality. RT-PCR was implemented in seropositive and doubtful animals.Results: Two samples collected from wild boar in the winter of 2013 gave a positive result in ELISA, while another two from the 2012/2013 hunting season were doubtful. No SBV RNA was detected in spleen and liver tissues.Conclusion: Low SBV seroprevalence in wild boars, despite high incidence of SBV infections occurring simultaneously in wild ruminants, suggests that boars are unlikely to be a significant reservoir of the virus in the sylvatic environment in Poland.

Ruminal acidosis is a metabolic disorder that affects ruminants, including cattle, sheep, and goats, due to a pH imbalance in the rumen. The rumen has a diverse population of microorganisms involved in carbohydrate metabolism, with anaerobic microorganisms in the rumen and cecum playing a crucial role. During healthy rumen metabolism, microbial fermentation produces volatile fatty acids, including acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. Excessive intake of feeds with high soluble carbohydrate content can cause ruminal acidosis by altering the ratio of volatile fatty acids produced through microbial fermentation, which in turn changes the rumen pH. Acidosis is defined as a decrease in the alkalinity of body fluids relative to their acid content. The pH of body fluids may or may not decrease during acidosis, depending on the degree of bicarbonate compensation. Impaired central nervous system function can occur even if blood pH remains stable due to low bicarbonate concentrations, which are buffered by bicarbonate. While a blood pH below 7.35 is required for a clinical diagnosis of acidosis, other clinical signs such as ruminal pH, anorexia, variable feed intake, diarrhea, and lethargy are commonly used to diagnose acidosis in beef cattle.

The identification and development of new and effective alternatives to antibiotics that do not hinder productivity assumes paramount importance in the context of antimicrobial resistance and food safety. In recent years, phytobiotics have been used as natural growth promoters in ruminants, poultry and swine, to improve growth and health. A wide variety of herbs, spices and essential oils have been used individually or as blends in poultry for their potential application as alternative growth promoters. In nursery and growing pigs supplemented with phytobiotics, intestinal pathogens were inhibited and beneficial microbial population that contributes to improving digestion and absorption of nutrients were increased resulting in increased weight gain and decrease in diarrheal syndrome. The inclusion of essential oils in the diet of finishing pigs, improved the productive yield and carcass characteristics. It also reduced the incidence of therapeutic treatment and mortality. Natural plant products have the potential to improve rumen fermentation, reduce loss of feed energy, improve animal health and productivity, increase animal lifetime performance, and reduce greenhouse gases production in ruminants. Phytobiotics with wide range of activities, is projected as a feed additive for higher market growth compared to other alternatives to antibiotics in the feed industry.

Brucella melitensis is the Brucella species most frequently associated with brucellosis in humans. It is also the causative agent of the disease in goats and other ruminants. Although significant aspects of the pathogenesis of infection by this intracellular pathogen have been clarified, several events during invasion of host cells remain to be elucidated. In this study, infections of human macrophages from the THP-1 monocyte cell line were conducted with B. melitensis Bm133 wild-type strain and a strain of Salmonella serovar Enteritidis as a control. A multiplicity of infection of 100 was used in trials focused on defining the relative expression of syntaxin 4 (STX4), a soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor, in the early events of phagocytosis (at 15, 30, 45, and 60 min). Immunoblot assays were also done to visualize expression of the protein in cells infected with either bacterial strain. The expression of STX4 was not significantly different in cells infected with B. melitensis strain Bm133 compared to that observed in cells infected with S. Enteritidis. When the expression of STX4 mRNA was inhibited with short or small interfering, or silencing, RNA in the THP-1 cells, the survival of B. melitensis was significantly reduced at time 0, when gentamicin treatment of cultures was begun (after 1 h of phagocytosis), and also at 2 h and 12 h after infection.

Seroprevalence of Babesia ovis in sheep and goats was studied in Siwa Oasis between January 2002 and January 2003. A total of 240 blood samples were collected from 108 sheep and 132 goats for preparation of blood smears and for separation of serum samples and tested against B. ovis by using IFAT. B. ovis was detected in 55 (50.92%) and 59 (44.69%) blood smears examined in sheep and goats, respectively. The overall prevalence of B. ovis infection was 71.3% in sheep and 68.2% in goat using IFAT. The seasonal prevalence of B.ovis peaked in both spring and summer as revealed by blood smear examination and IFAT. A total of 143 ticks were collected from 62 sheep and 81 goats during the study. The ticks examined were Rhipicephalus turanicus (75.52%) and Hyalomma anatolicum (24.48%).

The detection of volatile fatty acids (VFA) by gas chromatography of 85 purulent specimens from abscesses or pyogenic infections in cats, dogs, rodents, and ruminants was compared with the results of bacteriologic culturing, and proved to be a rapid means of presumptively diagnosing anaerobic infections. Of 83 bacteriologically positive specimens, 52 (61%) yielded obligate anaerobes and in 50 specimens, 1 or more VFA (butyric acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid, isovaleric acid, caproic acid, or isocaproic acid) was detected. Forty-six specimens were positive for culturing of anaerobes and for detection of 1 or more of these VFA. By contrast, pus from infections caused by (facultative) aerobic microorganisms contained no VFA or only acetic and/or propionic acid.

A serologic survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of antibodies to alcelaphine herpesvirus-1 (AHV-1) in captive exotic ruminants within the United States. Forty-six percent of the members of the subfamily Alcelaphinae (wildebeest, topi, hartebeest) in the family Bovidae had virus-neutralizing antibody to AHV-1. Other subfamilies of Bovidae with high prevalence of virus-neutralizing antibodies to AHV-1 included Hippotraginae (oryx and addax) and Caprinae (sheep and goats), with prevalence of 45% and 29%, respectively. Herpesviruses that have been isolated from captive exotic ruminant species, including healthy animals and those with clinical malignant catarrhal fever at the Oklahoma City Zoo and the San Diego Zoo/Wild Animal Park, were analyzed by DNA restriction enzyme analysis and blot hybridization. Variation has been detected among the genomes of several malignant catarrhal fever virus isolates obtained from various exotic species of ruminants, using the DNA restriction enzymes BamHI and HindIII. The DNA of these virus isolates is distinct from that of bovine herpesviruses 1, 2, and 4, as demonstrated by restriction enzyme analysis and nucleic acid hybridization. On the basis of restriction enzyme analysis and nucleic acid hybridization data, the DNA from each of the putative alcelphine herpesvirus isolates examined, except for the topi virus isolate, had a high degree of DNA sequence similarity with the original AHV-1 isolate, WC-11, from a blue wildebeest.