A retrospective serosurvey was carried out between 2009 and 2012 to detect antibodies to Brucella spp. in free-ranging African wildlife ungulates from five selected game parks in Zimbabwe. Samples were drawn from wildlife-livestock interface and non-interface areas in Zimbabwe. A total of 270 serum samples from four different species, namely African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) (n=106), impala (Aepyceros melampus) (n = 72), black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) (n= 45) and white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) (n = 47), were tested. The percentage of positive samples was 17.0% in buffalo (18/106; 95% CI: 9.72% – 24.1%) and 1.4% in impala (1/72; 95% CI: 0% – 4.2%). No antibodies to Brucella spp. were detected in the two rhinoceros species. The difference in the percentage of seropositive cases between buffalo and impala was significant (p< 0.05). Seropositivity to Brucella spp. was higher (19.1%) in adult buffalo compared with juveniles and sub-adults younger than six years (5.9%). Further, seropositivity was marginally higher (20.4%) in animals from wildlife-livestock interface areas than in those from non-interface areas (13.45%; OR = 1.45) although the difference was not statistically significant. The study showed that brucellosis could be more widespread in buffalo and may circulate in this species independently in the absence of contact with cattle, whilst rhinoceros may be considered less susceptible to brucellosis. The role of the wildlife-livestock interface in the epidemiology of brucellosis in wildlife and livestock is probably overstated but needs to be explored further.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of sub-clinical and clinical mastitis and the associated factors in cows from selected smallholder dairy farms in Zimbabwe. Physical examinations were conducted on all lactating cows for evidence of signs of clinical mastitis. Composite milk samples were collected from all lactating cows for bacterial culture and somatic cell counting. Cows were categorised as clinical if they exhibited clinical features of mastitis, or sub-clinical if no apparent signs were present but they had a positive bacterial isolation and a somatic cell count of at least 300 x 103 cells/mL. Farm-level factors were obtained through a structured questionnaire. The association of mastitis and animal- and herd-level factors were analysed using logistic regression. A total of 584 animals from 73 farms were tested. Overall, 21.1%(123/584) had mastitis, 16.3%(95/584) had sub-clinical mastitis and 4.8% (28/584) had clinical mastitis. Herd-level prevalence was 49.3%. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (27.6%), Escherichia coli (25.2%), Staphylococcus aureus(16.3%), Klebsiella spp. (15.5%) and Streptococcus spp. (1.6%) were the most common isolates. In individual cows, pure dairy herds (OR = 6.3) and dairy crosses (OR = 3.1) were more likely to have mastitis compared to Mashona cows. Farms that used pre-milking teat dipping were associated with reduced mastitis prevalence. Further research is needed on the prevalence of mastitis and a comparison of data for both smallholder and commercial dairy farms in all regions of Zimbabwe should be undertaken.

The indirect effects of mastitis treatment are often overlooked in cost-benefit analyses, but it may be beneficial for the dairy industry to consider them. The cost of mastitis treatment may increase when the duration of intra-mammary infections are prolonged due to misdiagnosis of host-adapted mastitis. Laboratory diagnosis of mastitis can be costly and time consuming, therefore cow-side tests such as the California Milk Cell Test (CMCT) and Milk Electrical Resistance (MER) need to be utilised to their full potential. The aim of this study was to determine the relative benefit of using these two tests separately and in parallel. This was done using a partial-budget analysis and a cost-benefit model to estimate the benefits and costs of each respective test and the parallel combination thereof. Quarter milk samples (n= 1860) were taken from eight different dairy herds in South Africa. Milk samples were evaluated by means of the CMCT, hand-held MER meter and cyto-microbiological laboratory analysis. After determining the most appropriate cut-off points for the two cow-side tests, the sensitivity and specificity of the CMCT (Se= 1.00, Sp= 0.66), MER (Se= 0.92, Sp= 0.62) and the tests done in parallel (Se= 1.00, Sp= 0.87) were calculated. The input data that were used for partial-budget analysis and in the cost-benefit model were based on South African figures at the time of the study, and on literature. The total estimated financial benefit of correct diagnosis of host-adapted mastitis per cow for the CMCT, MER and the tests done in parallel was R898.73, R518.70 and R1064.67 respectively. This involved taking the expected benefit of a correct test result per cow, the expected cost of an error per cow and the cost of the test into account. The CMCT was shown to be 11%more beneficial than the MER test, whilst using the tests in parallel was shown to be the most beneficial method for evaluating the mastitis-control programme. Therefore, it is recommended that the combined tests should be used strategically in practice to monitor udder health and promote a pro-active udder health approach when dealing with host-adapted pathogens.

Bovine tuberculosis is an important zoonosis and accurate diagnosis is important for its surveillance. Post-mortem diagnosis may, however, be compromised by lesions caused by other pathogens. In an investigation on its prevalence in slaughter cattle in Kenya, Mycobacterium bovis and dimorphic fungi were inadvertently identified separately or concurrently in tuberculous lesions. Beef carcasses were inspected for lesions in two abattoirs in Nairobi. Tissues with lesions were collected and transported to the laboratory. Smears of lesions were stained by acid-fast procedure and examined microscopically. Lesions were cultured in Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) and in BBL TM Mycobacterium growth indicator tubes (MGIT) media. Mycobacteria isolates in LJ medium were identified by DNA typing. Smears of BBLTM MGIT cultures were acid-fast stained and examined microscopically. Tissue sections were stained with periodic acid-Schiff reagent before examination. Of the 929 carcasses examined, 176 had granulomatous lesions. Dimorphic fungi were detected as acid-fast negative cells in 58 (32.9; 33.5%) of the lesion smears, either alone (29.0; 16.4%) or concurrently with acid-fast bacilli (29.0; 16.4%). The fungi were also detected in some BBL TM MGIT-culturesmears and lesioned tissue sections. The fungi were identified, by means of cellular morphology, as Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and Blastomyces dermatitidis. A total of 64 isolates of mycobacteria were recovered in LJ medium, 19 of which were identified as M. bovis. The present report documents native P. brasiliensis infections outside the presumed endemic region and B. dermatitidis infections in a livestock animal. The findings further indicate the importance of dimorphic fungi as a differential diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis in the region.

The purpose of this study was to explore the audits, quality assurance (QA) programmes and legal frameworks used in selected abattoirs in Zimbabwe and slaughterhouse workers’ perceptions on their effectiveness. Data on slaughterhouse workers was gathered through a self-completed questionnaire and additional information was obtained from slaughterhouse and government records. External auditing was conducted mainly by the Department of Veterinary Public Health with little contribution from third parties. Internal auditing was restricted to export abattoirs. The checklist used on auditing lacked objective assessment criteria and respondents cited several faults in the current audit system. Most respondents (>50.0%) knew the purposes and benefits of audit and QA inspections. All export abattoirs had QA programmes such as hazard analysis critical control point and ISO 9001 (a standard used to certify businesses’ quality management systems) but their implementation varied from minimal to nil. The main regulatory defect observed was lack of requirements for a QA programme. Audit and quality assurance communications to the selected abattoirs revealed a variety of non-compliances with most respondents revealing that corrective actions to audit (84.3%) and quality assurance (92.3%) shortfalls were not done. A high percentage of respondents indicated that training on quality (76.8%) and regulations (69.8%) was critical. Thus, it is imperative that these abattoirs develop a food safety management system comprising of QA programmes, a microbial assessment scheme, regulatory compliance, standard operating procedures, internal and external auditing and training of workers.

The use of haematological techniques to assess fish health is generally accepted. The aim of the current study was to determine selected haematological changes that occur in Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822). infected with trypanosomes. Blood films were prepared according to standard techniques to confirm trypanosome infections and whole blood was collected, the serum and plasma separated, and prepared for albumin and total protein concentration analysis. Plasma albumin levels were significantly higher in infected wild caught fish than in uninfected wild caught fish and uninfected breeding stock. Serum albumin levels were significantly lower in infected wild caught fish when compared to uninfected breeding stock. The total plasma and serum protein levels were within the normal range for C. gariepinus, that is, 3 g – 6 g/100 mL. The total plasma protein levels varied significantly between the three groups. However, the total serum protein levels were only significantly different between uninfected breeding stock and uninfected wild caught fish, as well as uninfected breeding stock and infected wild caught fish. The total protein levels were significantly higher in infected wild caught fish than in the other groups, a possible indication of an infection or inflammatory host response.

The study aimed to determine the prevalence of peste des petits ruminants in the arid zone (Niamey, Tillabéry and Tahoua) of the Republic of Niger. A serological survey was conducted and 519 serum samples were collected from 253 unvaccinated sheep and 266 unvaccinated goats. The sample included 340 female animals (168 sheep and 172 goats) and 160 kids and lambs (78 lambs and 82 kids). A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay yielded an overall seroprevalence of 45.0%. The prevalence in sheep was 42.0% compared with 47.9% in goats. The seroprevalence observed amongst small ruminants in Tahoua (49.8%) and Tillabéry (46.6%) was significantly higher (p = 0.001) than that observed in animals from Niamey (25.1%). It was also higher (p = 0.04) in sheep younger than two years (51.8%) than in adults (37.6%). Conversely, the seroprevalence showed no significant difference between male animals (35.8% in sheep; 50.1% in goats) and female animals (45.1% in sheep; 46.4% in goats). The prevalence of the disease observed amongst the sheep and goat populations confirms the continued danger of this disease in the areas studied. It is therefore necessary to develop strategies such as improving livestock services, providing effective vaccines and implementing a vaccination programme for an effective control of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.

The development of safe, novel adjuvant is necessary to maximize the efficacy of new and/or available vaccines. In this study, three different molecular weights of chitosan (low, medium, high) were evaluated as immunopotentiators/adjuvants of inactivated rabies vaccine in white Norway rats as an experimental model. Two concentrations (1.5% & 3% w/v) of each chitosan type were used in final concentration 5 mg/ml and 10 mg/ml. Results showed that lymphocyte proliferation were significantly elevated (P < 0.05) in all chitosan vaccinated rats compared to aluminum hydroxide gel vaccinated one. All three type of chitosan produced accelerated and enhanced effects on rabies-neutralizing antibody responses in vaccinated groups. Increases in antibody titers together with lymphocytes proliferation responses revealed that chitosan induced both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. When compared with aluminum hydroxide vaccine adjuvant, chitosan was superior to aluminum hydroxide. The conclusion of these results suggested that chitosan with different MW had a strong potential to increase both cellular and humoral immune responses and that chitosan may be a promising and efficacious adjuvant candidate suitable for inactivated rabies vaccine.

The present study was established to evaluate and compare stress response to anesthesia as well as surgery in sheep and goat. For this purpose, 5 rams and 5 bucks underwent anesthesia alone followed a week later by anesthesia with rumenotomy. Serum cortisol levels as well as differential leucocytic count were assayed just prior to anesthesia (0 time) and then after 1, 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours post anesthesia. In the second experiment, blood samples were collected just prior to anesthesia (0 time) then after half an hour (0 time post rumenotomy) then after 1, 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours post completion of rumenotomy. Serum cortisol levels in both species increased significantly and reach its peak one hour following anesthesia (3.31 ± 0.17 and 4.09 ± 0.12, respectively) which were higher than subsequent cortisol levels. In addition, Peak cortisol level in sheep obtained at 0 time post rumenotomy (4.39 ± 0.13) and 1 hour following rumenotomy in goat (3.45 ± 0.16). The significant increase in cortisol level persists for 6 hours and returns to normal level 24 hours following surgery.

The effect of rabies infection and vaccination on pregnancy was investigated in different groups of pregnant rats as an animal model. Intracerebral and intramuscular experimental infection with CVS rabies virus strain was applied on four pregnant rats groups at the middle (seven days after mating) and late stages of gestation (14 days after mating). Subcutaneous rout vaccination of other three pregnant rat groups five to seven days before; seven and 14 days after mating with the inactivated cell culture local rabies vaccine. Each group of infected rats showed clinical signs of rabies although their fetuses did not show any abnormalities. Virus recovery from the placenta and fetuses from dead and sacrificed animals failed to induce rabies signs in mice inoculated intracerebrally with placenta and fetus suspensions while brains of infected dams; through the routes; revealed positive FA by using fluorescent antibody technique. Vaccinated pregnant rats did not show any abnormalities with normal fetuses and good levels of specific rabies antibodies when estimated by serum neutralization test. These findings indicate that rabies vaccination of pregnant animals is safe and it could be recommended to protect both of dams and their offspring in the first months.