All effects taken together, bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has a long-term detrimental effect on bovine herds and many wildlife species in South Africa. The disease is not only found in domestic cattle but also in African buffaloes and has to date been diagnosed in 21 wildlife species, including several rare and endangered species, thus having a potentially serious effect on conservation and biodiversity. In cattle, bTB is mostly characterised by sporadic outbreaks, but bovine herds chronically infected with the clinical disease are not uncommon. Presently, the recognised bTB control strategy in South Africa is based on 'test and slaughter', using the intradermal tuberculin test, followed by the slaughter of animals that have tested positive. Affected herds are placed under veterinary quarantine with movement restrictions until the outbreak is eradicated; this can take several years or last indefinitely if the outbreak cannot be eradicated. The same measures apply to infected buffalo populations, often with no prospect of ever being eradicated. This strategy is neither practical nor viable in the context of a communal farming system and becomes unethical when dealing with valuable wildlife reservoir hosts. Transmission of bTB between wildlife and cattle has been demonstrated and emphasises the need for an effective, affordable and culturally acceptable control strategy to curb the spread of bTB in South Africa. In countries with similar challenges, vaccination has been used and found to be promising for treating wild and domestic reservoir species and may hence be of value as a complementary tool for bTB control in South Africa.

Heartwater is a tick-borne disease caused by the intracellular rickettsial parasite Ehrlichia ruminantium and transmitted by Amblyomma hebraeum ticks. Heartwater is problematic in endemic areas because it causes high mortality in ruminants and leads to economic losses that threaten productivity and food security. This may indicate that there is augmented genetic diversity in the field, which may result in isolates that are more virulent than the Ball3 and Welgevonden isolates. The genetic diversity of E. ruminantium was investigated in this study, focussing on the pCS20 gene region and four polymorphic open reading frames (ORFs) identified by subtractive hybridisation. The 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene confirmed E. ruminantium in brain, blood and tick genomic deoxyribonucleic acid samples (n = 3792) collected from 122 farms that were randomly selected from seven provinces of South Africa where heartwater is endemic. The conserved E. ruminantium pCS20 quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was used to scan all collected field samples. A total of 433 samples tested positive with the qPCR using the pCS20 gene region, of which 167 were sequenced. The known stocks and field samples were analysed, and phylogenetic trees were generated from consensus sequences. A total of 25 new clades were identified; of these, nine isolates from infected blood could be propagated in cell cultures. These clades were not geographically confined to a certain area but were distributed amongst heartwater-endemic areas in South Africa. Thus, the knowledge of strain diversity of E. ruminantium is essential for control of heartwater and provides a basis for further vaccine development.

This study was conducted from January to October 2018 with the objective to determine the prevalence and genetic diversity of Eimeria species in broiler and free-range chickens in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. A total of 342 faecal samples were collected from 12 randomly selected healthy broiler chicken farms and 40 free-range chickens from 10 different locations. Faecal samples were screened for the presence of Eimeria oocysts using a standard flotation method. The species of Eimeria isolates were confirmed by amplification of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) partial region and sequences analysis. Among broiler and free-ranging chickens, 19 out of 41 pens (46.3%) and 25 out of 42 faecal samples (59.5%) were positive for Eimeria infection. Molecular detection revealed the following species: Eimeria maxima, Eimeria tenella, Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria brunetti and Eimeria mitis in all the samples screened. Similarly, polymerase chain reaction assays specific for three cryptic Eimeria operational taxonomic units were negative for all the samples. Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS-1 sequences supported species identity with the greatest variation detected for E. mitis. This study provides information on the range and identity of Eimeria species, and their genetic relatedness, circulating in commercially reared broilers and free-ranging chickens from different locations in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Three isolates of Ehrlichia ruminantium (Kümm 2, Omatjenne and Riverside), the causative agent of heartwater in domestic ruminants, were isolated in Ixodes scapularis (IDE8) tick cell cultures using the leukocyte fraction of infected sheep blood. All stocks were successfully propagated in IDE8 cells, whereas initiation attempts using endothelial cell cultures were unsuccessful. Therefore, the new technique should be included in any attempt to isolate field strains of E. ruminantium to enhance the probability of getting E. ruminantium isolates which might not be initiated in endothelial cells. Draft genome sequences of all three isolates were generated and compared with published genomes. The data confirmed previous phylogenetic studies that these three isolates are genetically very close to each other, but distinct from previously characterised E. ruminantium isolates. Genome comparisons indicated that the gene content and genomic synteny were highly conserved, with the exception of the membrane protein families. These findings expand our understanding of the genetic diversity of E. ruminantium and confirm the distinct phenotypic and genetic characteristics shared by these three isolates.

The study was conducted to determine the occurrence and distribution patterns of diseases of goat in Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period of January 2018 to December 2018. Materials and Methods: A total of 452 goats were recorded during the study period. The diseases were diagnosed based on clinical signs, patient owners complain and laboratory findings. The prevalence was measured according to season and age of the goats which were studied. Statistical analysis was done by Chi-square test and P-value was calculated by using SPSS 25 for windows (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL).Results: In this study, 381 (84.29%) goats were found to be diseased from 452 visited goats at Central veterinary Hospital (CVH), Dhaka. The highest prevalence was found with worm infestation (31.42%) followed by PPR (13.72%), miscellaneous (ruminal acidosis, disuria, repeat breeding) (12.16%), pneumonia (10.18%), dermatitis (4.20%), enteritis (3.76%), urolithiasis (3.09%), bloat (2.65%), mastitis (1.55%), tetanus (1.11%) and protozoal diseases (0.44%). Rainy season represented the highest (86.11%) prevalence of goat diseases followed by winter season (82.85%) and summer season (82.44%). PPR was significantly (p<0.05) more prevalent in winter season than other two seasons. In this study, Goats had significantly higher (p<0.01) prevalence of worm infestation in the summer season (29.00%) and the rainy season (39.35%) and in all three (0-12 months, 13-24 months and >24 months) age groups with 21.64%, 45.06%, and 32.20% respectively. Prevalence of mastitis was lowest in 0-12 months (0.43%) and 13-24 months (0.62%) age group but the prevalence of tetanus was lowest in above 24 months (1.69%) age group.These findings will help to know about age-wise and season wise variation of different diseases of goat in this area and will help to execute proper preventive measures against those diseases.

Today, the use of components obtained from plant extracts is rapidly increasing, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Eight different plants, which are used as winter tea and are frequently consumed among herbal teas, were selected in the study. The aim of study was to investigate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of teas obtained from medicinal and aromatic plants such as Linden, Ginger, Cinnamon, Sage, Daisy, Turmeric, Clove and Rosehip. Five different pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were selected from common disease-causing pathogens. A total of 21 combinations were made for each plant. Disc diffusion and Minimum inhibition concentration methods were used to determine antimicrobial activity. DPPH (2,2 Difenil-1Pikrohidrozil) method was used to determine antioxidant activity. The amount of total phenolic and tannins contents contained of herbal teas were also determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) method.The highest value among the antimicrobial activities of herbal teas (triple combination) was measured against E. faecalis (25.11 mm). The herbal combination with the highest value measured was found in the ginger+cinnamon+clove group. The highest antioxidant value was measured in this mixture (36.8 mg/mL).Because some plants have more bioavailability, these benefits can be suppressed in a mixture. When determining these mixtures, the consumption will be more beneficial for public health, given the recommendations of researchers and experts.

The purpose of the study reported here, to investigate the effect of atropine on cardio-respiratory parameters and body temperature in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy with the combination of medetomidine-ketamine anesthesia. Twenty-six adult female intact domestic cats were admitted to Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for routine elective ovariohysterectomy. The animals were divided into two groups by the randomized grouping method before the operation. Trial animals (n=14) received atropine together with medetomidine and ketamine anesthesia. In control animals (n=12) received the same anesthesia without atropine injection. At the end of the operation, animals were moved to the critical care unit and the measurements of vital parameters were performed. Heart, respiration rates, deep rectal temperature and status of anesthesia recovery were recorded after the operation every 10 minutes for 1 hour.There was a group, time, and group x time interaction noted for heart rate. Treatment cats showed greater heart rate during measurement. The mean respiratory rate and deep rectal temperature were in reference ranges for cats and similar for both groups. In both groups significant sedation induced, however, the scores were not statistically significant among groups.In conclusion, atropine is an effective drug preventing decrease of heart rate and patients have shown less undesirable side effects when it is used before the administration of medetomidine in cats that operated for ovariohysterectomy.