Brucellosis has been in South East Asia for many generations affecting both man and animals and responsible for massive economic losses. The threat to the economy and to public health from this zoonotic disease is so great to ignore. Over the years there have been many attempts to control and possibly eradicate this infection but these efforts have not fully yielded the desired results due to many factors mentioned in this paper. Eradication, though expensive,
actually saves a lot of economic resources when properly implemented. In this review, the past and current situation of
brucellosis in South East Asia is explored with particular reference to Malaysia and challenges to the full eradication of the infection are elucidated.

Avian haemoparasites are known to exert negative pressures on theirhosts causing considerable pathology and mortalities. The present study reports on the prevalence of haemoprotozoa and microfilaria in various species of wild birds and domestic poultry in Selangor, Malaysia, and contributes to the database on the occurrence of thesepathogens among avifauna in the country. Giemsa-stained thin blood smears were screened from 728 birds representing five avian orders, namely Galliformes, Anseriformes, Phoenicopteriformes, Pelecaniformes and Gruiformes. The most common haemoparasite was Plasmodium, with a prevalence of 8.0%. The aquatic/wetland species of birds (Anseriformes and Gruiformes) were the most common hosts for this pathogen with high infection rates (31.8% – 50.0%). The prevalence of Plasmodium in domestic poultry was moderate (2.7%). Leucocytozoon sabrazesi and L. caulleryi were confined to the Galliformes with relatively low average infection rates of 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively. Haemoproteus was detected for the first time in domestic poultry and Red Jungle fowls in the country, with anaverage prevalence of 0.8%. Trypanosomes and microfilaria were only present in the village chickens and Red Jungle fowls, with high microfilaraemia rates (19.0%) in the latter. The current compilation will contribute to our understanding on avianhaemoparasite transmission in the country.

The Malaysian Pangolin (Manis javanica) is an endangered species,
but is widely hunted for its medicinal value in body parts. A total of sixteen pangolins were screened for blood protozoa and six
pangolins were confi rmed to be positive for eperythrozoonosis infection based on morphology from blood smears stained with 8% Giemsa. The causative organism, Eperythrozoon sp., with a size of 0.3 μm were observed under a compound microscope at 100× magnification on the surface of red blood cells as blue coloured dots. This is the fi rst report of Eperythrozoon infection from pangolins in Malaysia. Further identifi cation using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is necessary to confi rm E. ovis or wenyonii,
which is uncultivatable in artifi cial media.

A case of a cestode parasite (Choanotaenia infundibulum) egg wasfound in the intestine of chicken which was sent to the Veterinary Research Institute, Ipoh in February 2014 for post-mortem. Other parasites found in the intestine were adult tapeworm and oocyst ofcoccidia. The examination of the chicken intestine for helminth ova was undertaken using direct examination of a simple wet smear of the intestinal content which was observed under compound microscope.The cestode parasite was identified based on helminthological keys by Soulsby, 1982.

Blood protozoan diseases are significant to animal breeding as theyresult in economic loss due to mortality, reduction in production efficiency and increment in drugs usage. This historical retrospective study was carried out to investigate the most significant blood protozoan diseases, their trends as well as the host range diagnosed by Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) from 1931 to 2010 among Malaysian domestic animals. Conventional techniques such as stained thin blood film, whole blood buffy coatexamination and direct wet smears were utilised for diagnosis from 1931 to 2010. Five most common significant blood protozoan diseases from the domestic animals were identified namely, theileriosis,leucocy tozoonosis, pla smod ia sis, babesiosis and trypanosomiasisrespectively. The setting up of a systematic laboratory service in VRI has enabled more cases of blood protozoan infections to be diagnosed and this has inadvertently led to better understanding and control of the diseases thereby improving the livelihood and reducing economic loss of local farmers.