Objective: The current study aimed to determine the prevalence, infection burden, and risk factors associated with the occurrence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in different avian species in Ilorin, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in Ilorin, involving 597 fecal samples and GI tracts from a variety of sold and slaughtered avian species. The study was conducted between September 2017 and February 2018. Fecal samples were examined using floatation technique, while the GI tracts were examined for gross helminths and its content were subjected to the direct wet mount examination. Data were analyzed using percentages (descriptive) and the Chi-square (&#967;2 ) test (inferential). p < 0.05 was considered significant for all analysis. Results: Ten GI parasites were detected with Eimeria species (32.83%), Ascaridia galli (30.15%) and Heterakis gallinarum (24.79%) as the most prevalent ones. Multiple parasites co-infection was recorded in all the avian species: broilers (77.78%), layers (33.33%), cockerels (45.16%), indigenous chickens (17.91%), ducks (69.70%), pigeons (94.12%), turkeys (47.83%), and guinea fowls (77.36%). Pigeons (100.00%) and turkeys (95.65%) were the most infected avian species. Age, sex, and avian types were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with the occurrence of GI parasites infection. Conclusion: This study gives a reflection of the GI parasites fauna of avian species in Nigeria. The GI parasites are endemic among different avian speciesin Ilorin, North Central Nigeria. Knowledge on the epidemiology of these parasites is important in instituting a good preventive and control measures against GI parasites, so as to have maximum production and reproduction effects in the poultry industry. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2019; 6(1.000): 108-116]

The roles of wildlife in rabies transmission are still underestimated in many parts of the world. In the developed countries, epidemiology of rabies considering wildlife has been well documented. However, in the least developed and developing countries, emphasis has not given on this issue. Human population is increasing all over the world, and new localities are continuously developing. As a result, wildlife territory is decreasing, and the animals are coming in close contact with humans. Besides, many people are keeping wildlife as the sources of their pleasures. Due to the increased interaction among wildlife, domestic animals and human there is need to intensify efforts on mass education and building of awareness on the risks of rabies spreading by the wildlife, and to institute effective preventive measures to control over the disease. In this mini-review, roles of wildlife in epidemiology of rabies has been discussed considering the dynamics of wildlife in relation with associated intrinsic and extrinsic factors. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2017; 4(2.000): 117-124]

Objective: The investigation was undertaken to measure the epidemiological features and antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of Escherichia coli among different breeds of goats in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.Materials and methods: A total of 150 rectal swab samples were collected from selected goats. The samples were subjected for the isolation of E. coli through a series of conventional bacteriological and biochemical techniques. The isolated E. coli were used for assessing antimicrobial susceptibility by disk diffusion method. Besides prevalence study, nine risk factors were studied; the risk factors were- breed, age, hygienic status, sex, history of recent transportation, season, diarrhea, body condition score, and source of drinking water. Results: The overall prevalence of E. coli in the rectal swabs of goats was 52% (n=78/150). The young goats were highly susceptible (65.0%; n=52/80) to E. coli infection as compared to adults (37.1%; n=26/70). The prevalence was higher (66.7%; n=42/63) in the goats that was reared in poor hygienic condition as compared to the goats that were reared under good hygienic condition. The influence of the source of drinking water on E. coli prevalence was found to be higher both in pond (63.6%; n=7/11) and municipality (61.4%; n=51/83) supplied water as compared to tube-well (35.7%; n=20/56). The goats having recent transportation history showed higher prevalence (64.8%; n=35/54). The prevalence was higher in diarrheic goats (62.0%; n=49/79) than non-diarrheic goats. Among the E. coli isolates (n=78), 31 were found to be multidrug resistant (MDR) to 3 to 8 subclasses of antimicrobials.Conclusion: Presence of MDR E. coli in the studied goats suggest the probable acquisition, development and transmission of MDR E. coli through a number of influencing factors to other animals and potentially to human. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2016; 3(2.000): 166-172]

The purpose of this study was to provide fundamental information on both the common toxicants and poisoning episodes in dogs within Effurun/Warri municipality region of Delta State of Nigeria from 2011 to 2014. The collected data were grouped according to age, sex, breed, year of occurrence, and toxicant type. The study revealed that a total of 76 dogs comprising 12 breeds were poisoned by several toxicants such as pesticides (69%; n=52/76), household products (12%; n=9/76), food and ndash;poisons (9%; n=7/76), and snakebite envenomation (3%; n=2/76). Mixed breeds (29%; n=22/76), Alsatian (25%; n=19/76), Rottweiler (16%; n=12/76) and indigenous breed (7%; n=5/76) ranked the topmost breeds accounted for most poison emergencies with human and ndash;related factors incriminated. This study provides useful information on episodes of poisoning in dogs in the studied region. The knowledge of agents involved can help veterinarians for accurate diagnosis, and pet owners to cautiously protect their pets from potentially poisonous substances. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2015; 2(3.000): 357-361]

In Nigeria, knowledge on the epidemiology of diseases of dogs is limited. A retrospective study of data from clinical records of six veterinary clinics was undertaken to determine the incidence of disease in owned dogs in Delta State, Nigeria from 2012 to 2014. Association between the diagnosed diseases and the studied variables was explored using Chi-Squared test statistics. This study revealed that most of the conditions presented to the veterinary clinics were preventable. Thirty-one (31) clinical conditions were diagnosed from 571 cases recorded, involving nonspecific (21.6%), infectious (70.9%; P=0.001) and non-infectious (7.5%) diseases. The most occurring clinical conditions comprised helminthoses (21.4%), mange (10.5%), parvovirosis (8.4%), babesiosis (7.9%), septicemia (7.2%), gastroenteritis (7.0%), myiasis (7.0%), trauma (6.3%), poisoning (6.0%), ectoparasitism (3.7%), ascites (2.5%), dermatitis (2.3%), aural hematoma (1.2%), and orchitis (1.1%). Disease incidence was highest in Alsatian (40.3%), mixed/cross (33.1%), Rottweiler (7.0%) and toy breeds (4.6%). Details on the least occurring diseases and the association between disease and the studied variables are given. The outcomes demonstrate the prevalence of the clinical conditions diagnosed, inadequate husbandry and veterinary care accorded to owned dogs in the State. Education of dog owners on preventive measures is paramount in alleviating some of these health problems.

Tissue protozoa play a significant role as a cause of economic losses in reproductive and productive aspects in camels beside the zoonotic importance.  A Cross-sectional study was designed to estimate the seroprevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in dromedary camels in Matrouh and Aswan border governorates of Egypt. One hundred and eighty-two serum samples from apparently healthy dromedary camels and tested serologically for neosporosis and toxoplasmosis. The prevalence of possible related risk factors was investigated from December 2020 to November 2021. The serological testing of 182 camel serum samples revealed a prevalence (15.93%, 29/182) for Neospora caninum, (58.24%, 106/182) for Toxoplasma gondii and (9.34%, 17/182) for both infections together. The total seroprevalence rate was (64.84%, 118/182). Camels in Matrouh governorate were at high risk (p < 0.05) of infection with tissue protozoa 3.74 times more than camels in Aswan governorate. Maghrabi camels were found more significant (p < 0.05) prevalent for T.  gondii infection (62/78, 79.49%) by 5.28 times than Sudani camels, Otherwise, in Sudi camels, N. caninum is almost 2.70 times Maghrabi camels. The results showed that age and sex were mostly significant for N. caninum and T. gondii. This study found that, camels are a possible source of infection for the studied tissue protozoa, some of which are significant for public health. More research are needed to describe their true situation and epidemiology in dromedary camels.

Dogs exhibit patterns of health issues that vary by life stage. An understanding of disease incidence with respect to breed and age/life stage could be an important component of canine health management and welfare. This study aimed to describe the age-specific disease incidence of 3 small dog breeds that attended veterinary clinics in the Republic of Korea, based on data from electronic veterinary medical records (EVMRs). A total of 40,785 EVMRs from Maltese (n = 21,355), Miniature Poodle (n = 11,658) and Shih Tzu dogs (n = 7,772) were analyzed. Common health problems in 3 small dog breeds were ‘diseases of the skin’ and ‘diseases of the ear,’ respectively. Among dogs aged ≤ 3 years, ‘preventive medicine’ was the most common cause cited for veterinary clinic visits. Among dogs aged 4 to 8 years, the most frequent health problems were ‘diseases of the skin.’ Among dogs aged 9 to 13 years, ‘heart diseases,’ ‘kidney diseases,’ ‘mammary gland tumor,’ and ‘neoplasia (unspecified)’ were considerably more frequent, compared to the rates in dogs ≤3 years. Among dogs aged ≥ 14 years, ‘heart diseases’ and ‘sneezing/cough’ were the main health problems. In all breeds, the frequencies of ‘diseases of circulatory system,’ ‘diseases of respiratory system,’ ‘diseases of the nervous system,’ ‘endocrine’ and ‘neoplasia’ increased rapidly with aging. This surveillance could inform strategies for disease screening tests and management based on life stage in these dog breeds and enable more effective health management.

Listeria monocytogenes is a zoonotic food-borne pathogen that is associated with serious public health and economic implications. In animals, L. monocytogenes can be associated with clinical listeriosis, which is characterised by symptoms such as abortion, encephalitis and septicaemia. In human beings, listeriosis symptoms include encephalitis, septicaemia and meningitis. In addition, listeriosis may cause gastroenteric symptoms in human beings and still births or spontaneous abortions in pregnant women. In the last few years, a number of reported outbreaks and sporadic cases associated with consumption of contaminated meat and meat products with L. monocytogenes have increased in developing countries. A variety of virulence factors play a role in the pathogenicity of L. monocytogenes. This zoonotic pathogen can be diagnosed using both classical microbiological techniques and molecular-based methods. There is limited information about L. monocytogenes recovered from meat and meat products in African countries. This review strives to: (1) provide information on prevalence and control measures of L. monocytogenes along the meat value chain, (2) describe the epidemiology of L. monocytogenes (3) provide an overview of different methods for detection and typing of L. monocytogenes for epidemiological, regulatory and trading purposes and (4) discuss the pathogenicity, virulence traits and antimicrobial resistance profiles of L. monocytogenes.

Peste des petits ruminant (PPR) is a highly contagious, infectious viral disease of small ruminant species which is caused by the peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), the prototype member of the Morbillivirus genus in the Paramyxoviridae family. Peste des petits ruminant was first described in West Africa, where it has probably been endemic in sheep and goats since the emergence of the rinderpest pandemic and was always misdiagnosed with rinderpest in sheep and goats. Since its discovery PPR has had a major impact on sheep and goat breeders in Africa and has therefore been a key focus of research at the veterinary research institutes and university faculties of veterinary medicine in Africa. Several key discoveries were made at these institutions, including the isolation and propagation of African PPR virus isolates, notable amongst which was the Nigerian PPRV 75/1 that was used in the scientific study to understand the taxonomy, molecular dynamics, lineage differentiation of PPRV and the development of vaccine seeds for immunisation against PPR. African sheep and goat breeds including camels and wild ruminants are frequently infected, manifesting clinical signs of the disease, whereas cattle and pigs are asymptomatic but can seroconvert for PPR. The immunisation of susceptible sheep and goats remains the most effective and practical control measure against PPR. To carry out PPR vaccination in tropical African countries with a very high temperature, a thermostable vaccine using the rinderpest lyophilisation method to the attenuated Nigeria 75/1 PPR vaccine strain has been developed, which will greatly facilitate the delivery of vaccination in the control, prevention and global eradication of PPR. Apart from vaccination, other important questions that will contribute towards the control and prevention of PPR need to be answered, for example, to identify the period when a susceptible naïve animal becomes infectious when in contact with an infected animal and when an infectious animal becomes contagious.

A study was carried out to detect and identify the presence of coccidia oocysts in the faeces of village chicken from the district of Pasir Putih, Kelantan, West Malaysia. A total of 135 fecal samples were collected from 15 areas in the Pasir PutihDistrict. The faecal samples were examined by direct smear method (qualitative study). A pinch of the faeces was put onto the glassslide with 1-2 drops of normal saline and cover slip, which was then observed under the compound microscope to detect thecoccidia oocysts. The presence of coccidia oocyst was then identified by its size and shape. Results showed that ten out of 135 samples were positive for coccidia oocysts, and classified as Eimeria maxima and Eimeria mitis, both of which are from two locations at Kampung Chap Banir, Pasir Putih, Kelantan. The remaining 125 samples were observed to be negative. This may suggest that the chickens reared in the backyard (extensive)are less susceptible to the coccidia infection due to their environment with lower stocking density (mostly free ranging chicken), and no damp/wet litter as bedding which canfacilitate sporulation of the coccicia oocyst thereby spreading the infection. Further studies need to be done to elucididate other factors which may affect coccidial infections in free range chicken such as the availability of medications in feed or genetic hardiness and tolerance to field infections. The localvillage chicken industry is an up and coming facet of the poultry industry and needs concerted efforts to boost it.