Monocephalus thoracopagus is a kind of attached symmetrical twin in which two nearly complete individuals joined front-to-front in the thoracic region with a single head, fused chests, one or two hearts and two lower bodies. A died female kid goat with one head, four ears, four paired limbs and two more or less complete body was referred to the Veterinary Faculty of the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. Detailed dissection was done on it and the progress of the duplication process of the internal organs was studied precisely. In the presented case, the way of the articulation of the ribs to the sterna and the progress of the duplication process in the alimentary canal can support the Spencer's spherical theory, saying that “a group of conjoined twins resulting from the union of two embryonic discs (or incomplete fission in one disc) over a common yolk sac”.

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of toxin genes in Clostridium perfringens isolated from 200minced meat samples using molecular typing. For this purpose, after isolation of Clostridium perfringens using conventional culture method and confirmation by specific 16Srd NA gene PCR, alpha (cpa), beta (cpb), beta 2 (cpb2),epsilon (etx), iota (iA) and enterotoxin (cpe) genes were investigated by multiplex PCR.Out of 200 minced meat samples, 25 (12.5%) were determined as contaminated with C. perfringens and m-PCR results demonstrated that, out of these 25 isolates, 18 (81 %) possessed only the cpa gene (type A), while 4 (18 %) carried the cpa and cpb2 toxin genes (type A-cpb2+). Furthermore, the results showed1 isolate (4 %) as type B, 1 isolate (4 %) as type D and 1 isolate (4 %) as type E. This study reports the first cpb2 positive type B of C. perfringens in minced meat. Our results also indicate that C. perfringens type A is the most common type in minced meat.

The principle aims of this study were to evaluate clinical, hematological, microbiological and macro and micro pathological effects of tulathromycin on small ruminants infectious pneumonia (IP) and to determine the side effects of the drug in the injected site. For this purpose, all ruminants (10 sheep and 9 goats) with signs of IP were assembled in the Khorasan-E-Razavi Province Veterinary Organization research centre. Also, all of these animals were free of internal parasite infestations and free of hydrated cysts in the lung tissue. Before tularthromycin injection, samples were taken as nasopharyngeal swabs for culturing Pasteurella spp. and Mycoplasma spp. and performing the Cell Blood Count (CBC) for blood. Each animal was injected at the dose of 2.5 mg/Kg subcutaneously. In 24-, 48- and 72-hours after injection, body temperature (BT), respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), ruminal contraction rate (RCR), lung sounds (LS) and nasal discharges (ND) were recorded between 9-12 pm. Meanwhile on day 1 and day 3, the blood sampling was repeated and on day 3 nasopharyngeal swabs were repeated. Furthermore, 9 sheep and goats were killed on day 9 and the remainders were killed on the day 15 following injection and post-mortem inspections were conducted on lungs. From cases with lung lesions, a sample was taken for histopathological examination. The data showed that: A) The mean difference of BT, RR and HR of 0-, 24-, 48-, and 72-hrs after Tulathromycin injection was significantly different (p< 0.05). B) The mean difference of No. WBC and % neutrophils of 0-, 24-, 48-, 72-hrs was significant (p< 0.05). C) Pasteurella spp. was isolated from all sheep and goats before injection while this organism was cultured in only 2 of the animals on day 3 after tulathromycin injection (p< 0.05). D) Mycoplasma spp. was cultured from 57.9% of the small ruminants and the results were identical in the second culturing with the exception of one animal. Mycoplasma spp. was cultured from 57.9% of the small ruminants and the results were identical in the second culturing with the exception of one animal. E) 50% and 44.4% of the sheep and goats that were killed on the 9th and 15th days post-injection showed various pulmonary lesions including apical lob consolidation, apical lob consolidation plus adhesion, bronchopneumonia plus observed pleurisy. On the basis of this investigation Tulathromycin has not had any antibacterial effect on Mycoplasma spp.

The possible relationships between trace elements, oxidative stress and subclinical ketosis during the transition period were evaluated in dairy cows. Blood samples were obtained by jugular venipuncture at four times of the transition period: 3 weeks and 1 week before and 1 week and 3 weeks after calving. The highest concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and betahydroxybutyrate (BHB) were observed on the week 1 after calving. In contrast, the serum values of copper, zinc, albumin, uric acid and TIBC decreased after calving. After calving, zinc concentration showed a significant negative correlation with MDA concentration (p

Worldwide including Iran, Fasciola species are the causes of human and animal fasciolosis which have comparatively identical morphologies. The present study is aimed to identify different Fasciola forms by using morphologic and morphometric variations from domestic ruminants of northwestern Iran. A total of 130, 67 and 140 livers of cattle, water buffaloes and sheep respectively were collected from Urmia slaughterhouse. The adult helminths were removed and stained using Acetocarmine staining. The Fasciola eggs were directly extracted from the uterus of adult helminths. The overall frequency of infection was 28.19%. The highest infection rate was found in water buffalos (34%). The highest number of helminth per each animal was recorded for cattle (9.23%). The predominant infecting fasciolid in the examined ruminants was F. gigantica (51.89%) from water buffaloes origin. There was a significant difference among the width (W), the length (L), and the distance between ventral sucker to the posterior end of the body (DBVE) of all Fasciola forms from the examined animals. The L of different Fasciola forms had a significant difference for F. gigantica and intermediate form of Fasciola from cattle and water buffaloes origins. The W and the proportion of the body length to the width (SI) of eggs from all Fasciola forms had no significant difference. The Ls of eggs of F. hepatica and F. gigantica were significantly different. The results of this study elucidated three forms of Fasciola co-existing in the ruminants of the region. Additionally, the morphology and morphometry of adult and eggs of Fasciola species within a range of hosts may be taxonomically informative and one of the character sets for discrimination of fasciolid forms.

This study was undertaken to estimate specific activities of rhodanese and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MST) in different tissues of turkey. Enzyme activities were determined in tissue samples from freshly killed adult male turkeys by measurement of thiocyanate amounts produced by the action of enzymes on suitable substrates. Activities of rhodanese and MST in examined tissues of turkey range from 0.023 to 0.448 and 0.01 to 0.191, respectively. The highest activity of the rhodanese was observed in the liver followed by the kidney and then heart, with statistically significant difference between them. Indeed, the activities of MST were significantly higher in hepatic and renal tissues of turkey than in other examined tissues. Although both sulfurtransferases were detected in brain and all studied parts of the digestive tract, the mean values of enzyme activities were far less compared with those of liver and kidney. The results suggest high potential of liver and kidney in sulfurtransferases mediated cyanide detoxification in turkey. However, the demonstration of both enzyme activities in all examined tissues supports the involvement of them in other biochemical processes besides cyanide detoxification which needs to be clarified in detailed studies.

Viral infections are the cause of great economic losses in the poultry industry. Development of appropriate reagents and serological diagnostic kits will help to control these infections. The aim of this study is to prepare a peroxidase labeled anti-chicken IgG using a MAb (5B8) against chicken IgG, for detection of chicken antibodies in ELISA. Hybridoma cells producing the MAb 5B8 were cultured in RPMI 1640 medium and the MAb was purified from the cells supernatant using a sepharose matrix column, sensitized with chicken IgG. The purified MAb was labeled with Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) by periodate treatment. The peroxidase labeled MAb was compared with a commercial polyclonal product for detection of chicken antibodies against avian influenza virus nucleoprotein in ELISA. Therefore, type A recombinant nucleoprotein influenza virus was used as the antigen and chicken sera prepared from healthy and influenza virus infected chickens were used as primary antibodies. The results showed that there is a strong and direct correlation (r =0.972) between the optical densities of a commercial anti-chicken IgG and the prepared conjugate. In conclusion, the conjugated MAb is appropriate for the development of serological diagnostic tests for poultry infections.