Buffaloes have high productive potential but poor manifestations of oestrus signs and silent oestrus act as a major constraint in buffaloes affecting their reproduction. There are several detection tools used for detection and confirmation of oestrus in cattle but none of the methods have succeeded to overcome the problem of silent estrus in buffaloes. In recent years proteomics approach has gained much attention to identify proteins associated with various physiological and disease conditions in saliva and cervico vaginal fluid mostly in humans and up to certain extent in cattle and buffaloes. In this study twelve pluriparous Murrah buffaloes aged 4 to 7 years with good body condition were selected and divided into group I (regular oestrus), group II (silent oestrus). Each group carries six animals and saliva was collected at proestrus (day -3), oestrus (day 0) and diestrus stage (day 7). Cervico vaginal fluid (CVF) was collected only at oestrum stage. Protein profiling of saliva were studied by SDS - PAGE analysis. The SDS-PAGE analysis showed proteins of molecular weight 150, 110, 80, 40 kDa during proestrus; 150, 120, 70 and 50 kDa during oestrus; 250, 150, 90, 50 and 37 kDa during diestrus in group I buffaloes. Similarly, proteins of molecular weight 250, 150, 100, 80 and 25 kDa during proestrus; 150, 100, 75 and 50 kDa during oestrus and 250, 100,75 and 25 kDa during diestrus were observed  in group II buffaloes. The SDS-PAGE analysis of CVF showed proteins of molecular weight of 100 and 75 kDa in group I buffaloes and 250 and 150 kDa in group II buffaloes. Oestrus specific proteins with different molecular weights were identified in terms of different bands size. However further study is warranted to find out their role during oestrus in regular and silent oestrus buffaloes for the development of specific diagnostic assay.

A 2  month old male German shepherd dog was presented to Veterinary Clinical Complex, Small Animal Surgery Unit of Madras Veterinary College, Chennai with the history of persistent regurgitation for 15 days. Plain and positive contrast radiographic evaluation revealed the dilated oesophagus cranial to the heart and tracheal deviation with constriction at the base of the heart. Surgical correction through resection of persistent ligamentum arteriosum around the oesophagus under general anaesthetic procedure. Post operative plain and contrast radiographic procedure revealed no evidence of barium stasis in the course of oesophagus and complete resolution of regurgitation. Recovery was good and normal feeding habit noticed 14th post operative day.

Fracture comprises one of the major surgical cases having serious impinge on small ruminants causing lameness. A retrospective study was undertaken on incidence of long bone fractures in reference to metacarpal and metatarsal in goats. Among 893 cases, 344 (38.5%) cases had fracture. Incidence according to the bone involved; metacarpal (28.4%), metatarsal (22.9%), tibia (15.9%), femur (14.2%), radius and ulna (11%) and humerus (8.13%). Fractures with special reference to the age, sex, nature, type, location in metacarpal and metatarsal were taken for the study. The age of animals with metacarpal fracture ranged from twenty days to 3 years and had a mean age of 9 months whereas metatarsal fracture ranged from one month to 2.5 years and had a mean age of 1.2 years. Out of 176 goats with metacarpal (98) and metatarsal (76) fractures, male goats (65.3%) and (68.4%) were mostly affected than female. Open fractures were 33% whereas closed fractures were of 67%. Fracture due to automobile accident in metacarpal (45.9%) and metatarsal (31.5%) was found to be the most common cause of fracture in goats.

Abortions in domestic ruminants cause significant economic losses to farmers. Determining the cause of an abortion is important for control efforts, but it can be challenging. All available diagnostic methods in the bacteriology laboratory should be employed in every case due to the many limiting factors (autolysis, lack of history, range of samples) that complicate the investigation process. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the recovery of diagnostically significant isolates from domestic ruminant abortion cases could be increased through the use of a combination of the existing aerobic culture and Brucella selective method with methods that are commonly recommended in the literature reporting abortion investigations. These methods are examination of wet preparations and impression smears stained by the modified Ziehl-Neelsen method, anaerobic, microaerophilic, Leptospira, Mycoplasma and fungal culture. Samples of placenta and aborted foetuses from 135 routine clinical abortion cases of cattle (n = 88), sheep (n = 25) and goats (n = 22) were analysed by the new combination of methods. In 46 cases, bacteria were identified as aetiological agents and in one case a fungus. Isolation of Brucella species increased to 7.4% over two years compared with the previous 10 years (7.3%), as well as Campylobacter jejuni (n = 2) and Rhizopus species (n = 1). Salmonella species (5.9%) and Trueperella pyogenes (4.4%) were also isolated more often. In conclusion, the approach was effective in removing test selection bias in the bacteriology laboratory. The importance of performing an in-depth study on the products of abortion by means of an extensive, combination of conventional culture methods was emphasised by increased isolation of Brucella abortus and isolation of C. jejuni. The combination of methods that yielded the most clinically relevant isolates was aerobic, microaerophilic, Brucella and fungal cultures.

Clinical signs suggestive of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) involved herds of small ruminants, which were described elsewhere in Sudan. Peste des petits ruminants was confirmed using an Immunocapture ELISA (IC-ELISA) assay in samples of infected and dead animals in areas of outbreaks. Therefore, to update information regarding the current situation and for assessment of the serological prevalence of PPR in small ruminants mingled at Central and Western Sudan during 2018-2019, 368 sera were collected from sheep (325 sera) and goats (43 sera) with different ages and breeds. These sera included 186 sera (173 sheep and 13 goats) from White Nile State and 182 sera (152 sheep and 30 goats) from Kordofan States. Competitive ELISA demonstrated higher prevalence of PPRV antibodies of 88.9%, 90.7% and 88.6% in both sheep and goats, goats, and sheep sera, respectively. Moreover, 100%, 94.7% and 78.5% seroprevalence values were demonstrated in South Kordofan, North Kordofan and White Nile States. The higher seroprevalence values detected in sera of unvaccinated sheep and goats indicated the wide exposure of these animals to PPRV and presence of protection following PPR viral infection. The findings of the study indicated that PPR is endemic in the surveyed areas of Sudan. CONTRIBUTION: The study will contribute effectively to the global eradication programme of PPR organised by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). To completely eliminate PPR from Sudan by 2030, local efforts should be directed towards effectively and wholly vaccinating small ruminants using PPRV vaccine especially in routes of seasonal animal's movement and shared grazing areas.

Bovine trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by protozoans of the genus Trypanosoma. The disease cause economic losses in livestock production. In order to determine the status of research on this disease in Côte d'Ivoire, we used the systematic review method and meta-analysis. Three electronics databases, namely Google Scholar, PubMed and CrossRef were used to search for publications on trypanosomiasis prevalence that met our inclusion criteria. Twenty five articles were identified, 11 of which met the inclusion criteria. Bovine trypanosomiasis prevalence of 2.99% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.96% - 3.01%) to 25.28% (95% CI: 25.17% - 25.38%) were recorded between 1960 and 2021. The analyses showed that the most infected regions were the Bagoue 11.26% (95% CI: 11.25% - 11.27%), Bounkani 14.94% (95% CI: 14.93% - 14.95%), Gbeke 10.34% (95% CI: 10.33% - 10.35%), Marahoue 13.79% (95% CI: 13.78% - 13.80%), Poro 8.50% (95% CI: 8.49% - 8.51%), and Tchologo 11.83% (95% CI: 11.82% - 11.84%).The most sensitive diagnostic method used was the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The species of trypanosomes diagnosed were Typanosoma vivax 4.99% (95% CI: 4.97% - 5.01%), T. congolense 1.51% (95% CI: 1.49% - 1.52%), and T. brucei 0.61% (95% CI: 0.59% - 0.62%). Despite some variation, the prevalence of bovine trypanosomiasis in Côte d'Ivoire caused mainly by T. vivax has increased in the years between 1977 and 2017. Efforts to control tsetse and other mechanical vectors should also be put in place to minimize its transmission. CONTRIBUTION: The authors studied the prevalence of bovine trypanosomiasis using the systematic review method and MA in order to determine the status of research on this disease in Côte d'Ivoire

Culicoides truuskae Labuschagne and Meiswinkel sp. n. is described and illustrated in both sexes from material collected in South Africa and Namibia. It is restricted to the xeric western margin of the subcontinent, occurring in Fynbos, Nama-Karoo and Succulent Karoo ecoregions in South Africa and Desert and Savanna ecoregions in Namibia experiencing < 600 mm of rainfall annually. Culicoides truuskae sp. n. is part of the Afrotropical 'plain-wing' Culicoides in which the wing lacks a distinguishing pattern of light and dark spots; the diagnostic dark smudge that traverses wing cell r3 may result in C. truuskae sp. n. being misidentified as the sympatric but phyletically unrelated Culicoides herero (Enderlein) - (of the Similis group, subgenus Oecacta Poey). Additionally, this study is the first description of the male of C. herero. C. truuskae sp. n. and Culicoides coarctatus Clastrier and Wirth share similar characters in the male genitalia, although the two species are separable on wing pattern and female flagellum sensilla coeloconica (SCo) distribution. The breeding habitat and adult female blood-feeding preferences of C. truuskae sp. n. are not known. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree, using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequence data, is provided to further clarify the relationship between C. truuskae sp. n., C. coarctatus and C. herero. Extensive light trap data, collected over 30 years, are used to map the distribution ranges of C. truuskae sp. n., C. coarctatus and C. herero in Southern Africa. CONTRIBUTION: The description of this new species and the description of the male of C. herero increases our understanding of the diversity and distribution of Culicoides species in southern Africa.

Cowdria polymorphic gene 1 (cpg1, Erum2510, ERUM_RS01380) has been shown to induce 30% and 100% protection in sheep immunised by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) prime combined with DNA boost and DNA prime combined with protein boost, respectively, against heartwater infection via needle challenge. To localise its antigenic regions for inclusion in a multi-epitope DNA vaccine against heartwater, Erum2510 was cleaved into five overlapping subfragments. These subfragments were expressed individually in an Escherichia coli host expression system and evaluated for their ability to induce proliferative responses, Th1 and Th2 cytokines (interferon gamma &#91;IFN-&#947;&#93; and interleukin 4 &#91;IL-4&#93;) via enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot), quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and flow cytometry. Recombinant (r)proteins 3 and 4 were shown to induce immunodominant Th1 and Th2 immune responses characterised by the secretion of effector cytokines IFN-&#947; and IL-4 in addition to differential messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF), IL-2, IL-1, IL-18, IL-10, transforming growth factor (TGF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Thirty-seven overlapping synthetic peptides (16 mer) spanning the lengths of these immunodominant rproteins were synthesised and assayed. A peptide pool comprising p9 and p10 derived from rprotein 3 induced a Th1-biased immune response. A peptide pool comprising p28 and p29 derived from rprotein 4 induced a mixed Th1 and Th2 immune response characterised by secretion of IFN-&#947; and differential mRNA expression of IL-1, IL-2, IL-10, IL-12, iNOS, TGF, TNF and GM-CSF. Only one of the peptides (p29) induced secretion of IL-4. Phenotypic analysis showed significant activation of cluster of differentiation 8+ (CD8+), cluster of differentiation 4+ (CD4+) and B+ lymphocyte populations. Findings suggest that Erum2510 rproteins and synthetic peptides can induce both cellular and humoral immune responses, thereby implicating their importance in protection against heartwater. CONTRIBUTION: This study will facilitate the design of an effective multi-epitope DNA vaccine against heartwater that will contribute to control this economically important disease in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

Infection with Coxiella burnetii causes significant economic impact and poses zoonotic risk to people exposed to livestock, yet few studies in South Africa have assessed seroprevalence of C. burnetii infection and no information is available for goats. Very little information is available regarding risk factors and outcomes of C. burnetii infection in peri-urban farming areas where widespread mixing of ruminants occurs. This study estimated the seroprevalence of C. burnetii infection among communally farmed goats in an area adjacent to the densely populated Gauteng province. Sera were collected from 216 goats in 39 herds, and questionnaires were completed to establish management practices as potential risk factors. C. burnetii antibody testing was done by ELISA. Thirty two out of 216 goats tested positive for C. burnetii antibodies and the overall seroprevalence, adjusted for sampling weights and clustering, was 18.4% (95% confidence interval &#91;CI&#93;: 12.2% - 23.5%). The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.06, indicating low-to-moderate clustering. Multiple logistic regression showed age was significantly associated with seropositivity, with higher seroprevalence in animals &#8805; 19 months old (26%) than animals &#8804; 6 months old (6%) (odds ratio &#91;OR&#93;: 6.6; p = 0.010). We concluded C. burnetii infection is common in goats in Moretele and a potential cause of abortion in goats and poses the potential zoonotic disease risk. CONTRIBUTION: Despite the threats posed on animal health and productivity, scant information is published on C. burnetii in South Africa. This research established preliminary estimates of C. burnetii seroprevalence. The research is original from a South African perspective, relevant to Africa and focused on infectious disease in livestock.

Lymnaea natalensis is the only snail intermediate host of Fasciola gigantica, the causative agent of fascioliasis, in Nigeria. The species also serves as intermediate host for many other African trematode species of medical and veterinary importance, and it is found throughout the country. However, there is no detailed information on the factors that influence its distribution and seasonal abundance in the tropical aquatic habitats in Nigeria. This study used the geographic information system and remotely sensed data to develop models for predicting the distribution of L. natalensis in South-Western Nigeria. Both land surface temperature (LST) and normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) were extracted from Landsat satellite imagery; other variables (slope and elevation) were extracted from a digital elevation model (DEM) while rainfall data were retrieved from the European Meteorology Research Programme (EMRP). These environmental variables were integrated into a geographic information system (GIS) to predict suitable habitats of L. natalensis using exploratory regression. A total of 1410 L. natalensis snails were collected vis-à-vis 22 sampling sites. Built-up areas recorded more L. natalensis compared with farmlands. There was no significant difference in the abundance of snails with season (p > 0.05). The regression models showed that rainfall, NDVI, and slope were predictors of L. natalensis distribution. The habitats suitable for L. natalensis were central areas, while areas to the north and south were not suitable for L. natalensis. CONTRIBUTION: The predictive risk models of L. natalensis in the study will be useful in mapping other areas where the snail sampling could not be conducted