The objectives of the present study were to validate ultra-sonographic examination (US) as a reliable diagnostic tool for endometritis, as well as to determine the effects of intrauterine infusion (IU) of benzathine cephapirin plus systemic PGF2α as a treatment protocol of endometritis in dairy cows. 260 Holstein cows were included in this study. The affected cows were examined rectally and US. The cows were divided according to the diagnostic method and treatment protocol into 3 groups. Group1: rectally diagnosed and received systemic PGF2α. Group2: diagnosed rectally and received IU benzathine cephapirin plus systemic PGF2α. Group3: diagnosed US and received IU benzathine cephapirin plus systemic PGF2α. Good reproductive indices were recorded for cows examined US and treated with combination of IU benzathine cephapirin plus systemic PGF2α. A highly significant positive correlations were observed between days in milking (DIM) and most of tested reproductive indices. Meanwhile, Daily milk yield was negatively correlated with all tested reproductive parameters. In conclusion, transrectal US could be used as a reliable method for early diagnosis of endometritis. In addition, using a combination of IU application of benzathine cephapirin plus systemic PGF2α was superior treatment protocol in endometritis in comparison with PGF2α.

A total of 247 intestinal samples from freshly dead broiler and layer chickens were collected from 150 farms in Giza, Sharkia, Qalubia, El-Behera, Daqahlia and Cairo governorates in different seasons. These samples showed different degrees of intestinal lesions from apparently normal to sever necrosis with ulcerations. Clostridium perfringens was isolated from 138 samples with incidence of 55.9%. The incidence of NE was higher in spring and summer than winter and autumn. According to polymerase chain reaction and intradermal injection of guinea pig all isolates were Clostridium perfringens type A. In vitro antibiotic sensitivity tests made for 15 isolates and most of the examined isolates were highly sensitive to amoxicillin, ampicillin, florfenicol, penicillin and metronidazole. Three isolates showed resistance to most of antibiotics were used. Effect of piperazine salt on antibiotic resistance of C. perfringens isolate was studied in this work.

One hundred milk samples were collected from camel’s milk for the isolation of Staphylococcus aureus. Thirty-one isolates were S. aureus, 45 were other forms of staphylococci and 24 represented other bacteria. Five isolates from S. aureus were methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 26 samples were methicillin susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). The whole genome sequence of S. aureus was annotated and visualised by rapid annotation using subsystem technology (RAST) which is a fully-automated service for annotating complete or nearly complete bacterial genomes. Four isolates from MSSA strains were subjected to multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). Three multilocus sequences types or sequence types (MLST/ST) were found, namely ST15, ST1153 and ST130. The phylogenetic analysis of the concatenated sequences of the seven genes forming the MLST profile of S. aureus classification revealed a high degree of similarity and close relationship between the ST15 and ST1153 while the third ST (ST130) was located in a different cluster.

Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is the causative agent of chicken infectious anemia CIA). Studying CAV isolates in Egypt and their genetic diversity and its potential role in vaccination failure recently noticed in broiler flocks, is lacking in Egypt. So, the present study aimed to characterize CAV isolate-collected from a commercial broiler flock suffered from severe anemia and high mortality based on sequence and phylogenetic analysis of partial VP1 gene as well as to study pathogenicity and immunosuppressive potential in one day-old SPF chicks. The CAV isolate proved to be positive by PCR. The PCR product was sequenced and submitted to the gene bank under the accession number KX171350 and the CAV strain was designated as CLEVB-Zag2. Phylogenetic analysis at the nucleotide and amino acids level classify CLEVB-Zag2 CAV under group III (genotype III) of CAVs. On the other hand, the CLEVB-Zag2 CAV was found to be highly pathogenic for the experimentally inoculated SPF- chicks showing depression, severe anemia in almost all chicks in two infected groups beginning at the 7th day post infection (PI) and reached the peak of severity at the 14th day (hematocrit value, hemoglobin conc. and RBCs counts) are significantly reduced in chicks of the infected group. Blue wings were observed in few chicks in each infected group at the 14th day PI. Macroscopic lesions consisting of subcutaneous and muscular hemorrhages are observed with pale bone marrow, significant atrophy of thymus, spleen and bursa, hepatomegally with mottled liver and paleness of the carcasses were detected 7 days PI Those findings were evident and increased in severity until the day 14 PI. Concerning the CLEVB-Zag2 CAV, it was found to be highly immunosuppressive in the infected SPFchicks vaccinated with a commercial potent inactivated H5N1 vaccine as manifested by a significant reduction (protection 50%). The variance in the titer of the shieded challenge H5N1 virus was 1.45 log10 and the mean HI titer at the 4th week post vaccination was 1.5 log2 compared with the non-infected vaccinated group where these values were 90%, 2.35 log10 and 5.3 log2; respectively. In conclusion, the present study revealed that the CLEVB-Zag2 CAV isolate is highly pathogenic and immunosuppressive.

Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) is a major cause of mastitis in dairy animals and a serious pathogen affecting human health. The current study was designed to investigate the extent of S.aureus in milk samples collected from dairy animals as well as human clinical samples,beside determination of its antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. Also, the prevalence of both mecA and vanA genes among some selected methicillin-resistant isolates was investigated. Out of 120 milk samples obtained from different animals (cows, buffaloes, sheep, and goats), 81 (67.5%) samples reacted positive for S. aureus, whereas 67 (74%) out of 90 human samples were found positive for S. aureus. Disk diffusion susceptibility testing revealed that S.aureus isolates of humans were more resistant than thoseof animals against all tested antimicrobials except for clindamycin. A high rate of multi-drug resistance (MDR) and mecA gene was recorded in S. aureusof both animals and humans. Surprisingly,vanAgene, which is responsible for vancomycin resistance was detected only in S. aureus isolated from animal milk. To the best of ourknowledge, it is the first record of vanA gene in S. aureus recovered from animals.

Duck Hepatitis virus (DHV) causes great economic losses in waterfowl industry worldwide. 3D gene, lies in the P3 segment of the picornavirus genome, is highly conserved and is a non-structural polyprotein gene, its encoding protein contains a conserved domain termed RNA-dependentRNA polymerase which participates in the synthesis of virus RNA during virus replication. The current work describes the surveillance of DHV in 20 commercial duck farms in Egypt with a history of high mortality in 3 to 15 day-old young ducklings from 2014 to 2016. Clinical samples were examined by Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction assays followed by partial sequence analysis of the 3D gene of the positive samples. Histopathological examination of the liver from selected samples was also conducted. The overall positive rate was 50% (n = 10/20). All duck breeds (Pekin, Muscovy and Mallard) used in the study were found to be susceptible to the disease. Histopathological findings of the liver samples showed pronounced lesions including hepatocyte degeneration and necrosis. Also, apoptosis were observed and bile duct hyperplasia, together with varying degrees of inflammatory cell response and haemorrhage. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the Egyptian strains cluster in the DHAV serotype 1 with Asian viruses and distant from the vaccine strains used in Egypt.

The ability of L. monocytogenesas an opportunistic pathogen of humans and animals, to survive and grow under various adverse environmental conditions, makes it a potential health hazard afterthe consumption of contaminated dairy products, it often implicated in several outbreaks of listeriosis. This study was conducted to investigate the survival of L. monocytogenes strain (NCTC13372) when inoculated with a population level of 6.95 log cfu/g and 7.64 logcfu/g and stored at 4ºC for 15 days and 3 months at -18ºC for yoghurt and ice cream respectively. The obtained results indicated that complete inactivation of the tested organism wasn’t achieved till the end of storage periods and the inoculated L. monocytogenes was survived in both yoghurt and ice cream throughout the trial. It is concluded that in the dairy industry, we cannot rely upon either fermentation process and storage at refrigerating temperature or upon storage at freezing temperature during yoghurt and ice cream manufacturing to control L.monocytogenes pathogen in order to provide safe products for consumption.

The acaricidal activity of acetone and ethanol extracts of 12 plant species was evaluated using the contact method on Rhipicephalus turanicus (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks at an initial concentration of 20% (200 mg/mL). Eight of the 12 plants had mortality greater than 50% and the acetone extracts had better acaricidal activity than the ethanol extracts. The acetone extract of Calpurnia aurea (leaves and flowers) had the highest corrected mortality (CM) of 92.2% followed by Schkuhria pinnata (whole plant) with a CM of 88.9%, Ficus sycomorus (bark and stems) 86.7% and Senna italica subsp. arachoides (roots, leaves and fruits) 83.3%. Selected extracts were tested at five different concentrations using the adult immersion test. From dose–response assays, EC₅₀ values of 61.82 mg/mL, 115.21 mg/mL and 161.02 mg/mL were obtained for the acetone extracts of S. pinnata (whole plant), S. italica subsp. arachoides (roots, leaves and fruits) and C. aurea (leaves and flowers) respectively. The ethanol extract of Monsonia angustifolia (whole plant) had the highest CM of 97.8% followed by S. pinnata (whole plant) with a CM of 86.7%, C. aurea (leaves and flowers) 81.1% and Cleome gynandra (leaves) 77.8%. There is potential for the development of environmentally benign botanicals as natural acaricides against R. turanicus.

The intensification of cattle production has raised concern for animal welfare due to the stress that is associated with farming practices. The welfare of an animal is determined by the animal’s ability to cope with or adapt to its continuously changing environment and the biological cost that is associated with this adaptation and maintenance. Stressors arise from various psychological, physiological and physical aspects of farming practices due to management and human–cattle interactions. Measuring the activity of the hypothalamopituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis with plasma cortisol levels is a useful method for determining the effects of stress on animals as it is stimulated at the onset of a perceived stress. The activation of the HPA axis affects various target tissues or systems and can result in suppression of the immune system, increased susceptibility to disease and adverse effects on reproductive success in prenatal and neonatal calves. Although some levels of stress associated with farming practices are unavoidable, improvements in farming methods need to be implemented in order to maintain or increase the efficiency of cattle production in a way that does not compromise the welfare of the animal.