A total of 1260 male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were allocated to 7 treatment groups (different levels and access time to vitamin premix (VP)) at 29 to 42 days of age, in floor system (Experiment 1) and battery cage system (Experiment 2). The oxidative stability was evaluated by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) on the thigh yield that were storage for 180 days in -20˚C. Results of experiment 1 showed that VP reduction and withdrawal from 29 d of age did not impair body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio during the final period of treatments (29-42d).Results of experiment 2 showed that there were no significant differences in the birds’ performance with reduction or withdrawal of VP from diets in 29-35 days among the experimental groups, but in 36-42 days of age, the performance of the group of birds fed with diet without VP (T1) was significantly lower than other groups. The results of experiment 2 showed that the performance of birds fed with diet without VP was significantly lower than other treatments in 36-42 days of age. The results of TBARS values in experiment 1 for thigh meat samples of birds slaughtered at 42 days of age showed that TBARS values of treatments without VP were significantly higher than other treatments. However in experiment 2, TBARS values of treatments without VP and with 33% VP were significantly higher than other treatments for birds slaughtered at 42 days of age. Finally, the results of this study demonstrate firstly that it is not possible to withdraw but it can be possible to reduce VP in finisher broiler's diets without negative effects on performance and meat quality during the time of freezing in both methods of rearing. Secondly, it is possible to reduce the VP levels in diet of broilers reared in floor system more than battery cage system.

Studies were conducted to examine the relationship between the organ-body weights. Six apparently healthy adult grasscutters were used for the study. Organ weights considered were the liver, lungs, kidneys, spleen and testes, all of which were recorded as mean ± SEM. A highly positive correlation existed between the right testis and the body weight (r = 0.950, p < 0.05). The left testis and the body weight also exhibited high positive relationship (r = 0.904, p < 0.05). Bilateral asymmetry of paired organs was observed, very high positive relationships existed between the right and left lungs (r = 1.000, p < 0.05), the right and left kidneys (r = 0.968, p < 0.05) and also the right and left testes (r = 0.985, p < 0.05). For cases of significant relationships, we infer that the variables or their combinations could provide a good estimate for predicting live weights of the African grasscutter.

A cross-sectional study was conducted between September and October 2010 in five states of South Sudan that were selected on the basis of the perceived risk of tick-borne diseases. The purpose was to investigate epidemiological parameters of tick-borne diseases in South Sudan and their uses in future control strategies. A total of 805 calves were assessed by clinical, microscopic and serological examination and tick counts. The indirect Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) was used to detect antibodies to<em> Theileria parva</em>, <em>Theileria mutans</em>, <em>Anaplasma marginale</em> and <em>Babesian bigemina</em>. Sero-conversion risks for <em>T. parva</em> and <em>T. mutans</em> were 27.3% and 31.3% respectively, whilst the risk was 57.6% and 52.8% for <em>A. marginale</em> and <em>B. bigemina</em>, respectively. Major tick species identified include <em>Rhipicephalus appendiculatus</em>, <em>Rhipicephalus decoloratus</em>, <em>Rhipicephalus microplus</em>, <em>Amblyomma variegatum</em>, and <em>Rhipicephalus evertsi</em>. There was great variation (<em>P</em> ≤ 0.001) in the number of all these ticks, both between herds in a state and between calves in an individual herd. The low and intermediate sero-conversion risks observed in the study states suggest that immunisation against East Coast fever (ECF) is justified. Fortunately, three major genotypes that were identified by applying Polymerase Chain Reaction Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCRRFLP) analysis on the p104 to the blood samples and T. parva Muguga, matched very well with <em>T. parva</em> Kiambu 5 and <em>T. parva</em> Muguga; therefore the Muguga cocktail can be used for the immunisation of cattle in South Sudan. However, prospective studies are required to develop optimal control measures for tick-borne diseases under different ecological and husbandry practices in South Sudan.

The epidemiology of orf virus infection in Saudi Arabia (SA) has been researched since 1990. The results obtained during this period indicate that the disease is widespread, has great economic impact and that no vaccine has been used against it. The present study compares the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of three locally developed live orf virus vaccines. Two of them differ in their passage history in Vero cell culture and the third was used as a virulent virus in glycerine buffer. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar comparative study has been conducted in the Middle East utilising three types of vaccines prepared from the same virus strain. Selection of the candidate seed orf virus and performance of the quality control tests were as laid out by the OIE for veterinary vaccine production. The vaccine seed virus was a field orf virus isolated from a previous orf outbreak in Saudi Arabia. A simple novel formula was developed to calculate the rate of reduction in the healing time (RHT %) in the challenged sheep. This allowed direct comparison of the efficacy of the three types of vaccines employed in the present study. The efficacy of each vaccine was tested on a cohort of local Noemi sheep.

Three parakeets were brought for postmortem examination with a history of sudden death. The gross examination of birds revealed multiple light whitish nodules around the left eye, on the skin at the level of hock joint, on the anterior part of tracheal mucosa, congested lung and pallor liver. Impression smears from nodules revealed numerous heterophils, red blood cells, necrotic epithelial cells and bacterial colonies. Histopathological examination of nodules revealed eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in the spinosal cells, epidermal hyperplasia, ballooning degeneration of spinosal cells and bacterial colonies. The virus was isolated and infection was produced on both chorioallantoic membrane and chicken embryo fibroblasts. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out and primer set designed from the 4b core protein gene of fowl pox virus revealed amplification at 578 bp. Suitable remedial measures were recommended against avipox virus infection and secondary bacterial infection.

The infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an age-limiting viral disease of chicken affecting both broiler and layer chicks between 3 – 6 weeks of age characterized by severe immunosuppression and high mortality. The maternally derived antibodies protect chicks till they develop age – resistance, hence breeder flocks immune status monitoring regularly helps in ensuring adequate levels of maternal antibodies transfer to hatchlings and fine tuning of vaccination schedule. The conventional virus neutralization test (VNT) though gold standard, is time consuming and cumbersome. Hence, alternate immunodiagnostic tests which are simple and relatively easy to perform viz., single serum dilution enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibody titre and flow through assay (FTA) for antigen detection were developed. A standard curve was constructed by using regression analysis which helped in derivation of an equation and that allowed to demonstrate correlation between observed titre and predicted titre. At a dilution of 1:2000 of serum there was a linear relationship between predicted titres at single serum dilution and observed titre. The FTA was able to detect 200 ng / µl concentrations of IBDV. The FTA can be performed as, on spot test for detection of IBDV in suspected cases.

.A cross sectional study was conducted from September to November, 2011 to determine the status of trypanosomosis in bovine, vector type and density in Debre Elias district, north-western Ethiopia. Totally, 581 blood samples were collected and analyzed using wet and thin smears, and buffy coat technique. Four traps at randomly selected areas were deployed, and type and number of flies trapped were recorded. The overall prevalence of trypanosomosis was 10.67%. The prevalence were significantly (p<0.05) higher in lowland (17.55%) than midland (7.38%) agro-climatic zones and it was also significantly higher in middle (14.35%) than either young (10.74%) or old (6.96%) animals. However, there was no significant (p>0.05) variation between sex groups. Trypanosoma vivax and T. congolense were the two species identified in the area accounting 56.45% and 43.55% of the positive cases, respectively. A total of 912 flies were caught. Of these, 192 (21.05%) were belonging to Glossina species, whereas the remaining were Stomoxys and Tabanus. The apparent density of Glossina, Tabanus and Stomoxys were 1.60, 4.3 and 1.7 fly/trap/day, respectively. From this particular study, it was confirmed that bovine trypanosomosis is a disease of concern in the district. Therefore, appropriate strategies have to be designed to reduce its effect on livestock production.

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is considered one of the enzootic animal diseases in Saudi Arabia. During the period 2005-2009, large numbers of FMD type O outbreaks were reported and related to FMDV ME-SA Pan Asia II topotype. FMD type A virus was only detected in December 2005. Its phylogenetic analysis confirmed that this type A virus was a member of the ASIA topotype. Our results of molecular-biological studies revealed that FMDV type O Manisa that present in the current vaccine formula appears to have only a moderate match against some isolates of the currently circulating FMDV type O PanAsia strain while FMD type A virus was most closely related to the Iranian A/Iran /2005. So, the authors recommend using a tetravalent vaccine containing type O FMDV PanAsia topotype, type A Iran 2005, Asia1 and Sat2 for FMD prevention in the large Saudi Arabian dairy farms. In addition to, bivalent vaccine containing type O FMDV PanAsia topotype and type A Iran 2005 for the routine vaccination campaigns all over the country.

Three dogs aged between 2 to 4 years old were presented to the Referral Veterinary Polyclinic, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar with clinical signs of anorexia, hypersalivation and repeated attempts at swallowing. Two cases showed shaking of head, pawing at the mouth and rubbing the head against wall, while in one case behavioral signs of depression were observed. Clinical examination and lateral plain radiograph of head and neck revealed radio opaque foreign body in the pharynx of all the animals. The foreign bodies were retrieved through the oral approach under general anaesthesia. This clinical paper reports the successful management of pharyngeal foreign bodies through oral approach using long curved artery forceps without any complication.