A cross-sectional study was designed to determine the level ofawareness of selected dairy farmers to herd health program (HHP) and compliance in the Program LadangAngkat (PLA). The study also determined the association between farmers’ awareness and compliance in promoting herd health. An open-ended questionnaire was randomlyadministered to five dairy cattle farms within Selangor and Negeri Sembilan as representative dairy farms enlisted into the PLA of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The mean herd size of the farms was 102.20±20.80, with a range of 30-160 heads of dairy cattle, having an average mean number of milking cows at 29.40±11.22. There was a higher (p<0.05) mean herd health awareness level (72.86±5.78%) among the farmers once compared with the mean compliance level (61.2 ± 4.1%) for 10 out of the 14 HHP components; with the lowest compliances being disease monitoring programme(33.20%) and biosecurity (39.9%). There was a significant (p<0.05), direct, weak positive correlation (r = 0.245; p = 0.042) between farmers’ awareness and farmers’ compliance to the 14 components of the HHP. This study highlights an appreciable level of awareness among dairy farmers in the PLA, with a relatively low compliancelevels to the HHP components.

A study was conducted inthe Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex,College of Veterinary Animal Sciences,Mannuthy to evaluate the efficacy ofclindamycin as potential monotherapytreatment plan for Babesia gibsoni infectionin dogs during the period from January2013 to March 2014. Dogs of variousbreeds and age groups belonging to bothsexes diagnosed of having Babesia gibsoniinfection by blood smear examination andconfirmed by PCR were selected for thestudy. These animals were treated withclindamycin @ 11mg/kg bw IV q24hr for10 days and supported with haematinics.All animals showed clinical cure withimprovement in appetite and physicalactivity, increase in haematologicalparameters including platelet count andimprovement in serum chemistry values.

Canine hepatozoonosis isa growing tick-borne disease in Punjab.Two canine hepatozoonosis cases, oneclinical and one subclinical, in Punjabwere analyzed by PCR targeting 18S rRNAgene (666 bp). After sequence analysisof the PCR products, both of them werefound almost identical to each other andwere closely related to the Hepatozooncanis strain found in Saint kitts and Nevisand Brazil with 100% (442/442) and 99%(440/442) nucleotide identity respectively.Isolates from Malta and Philippines ofH. canis were distantly related to IndianH. canis with 437/442 and 436/442 matchidentities. These results suggest that H.canis detected in north Indian dogs mighthave closer ancestral relationship with SaintKitts and Nevis followed by Brazil strain.This is the first molecular characterizationof Hepatozoon from Punjab, India.

A study was carried out to report the phylogenetic analysis of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensisby using molecular techniques from samples submitted to the Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Bukit Tengah.In this study, identification and genetic characterization of Brucella isolated samples using molecular analysis based on IS711 sequence between localisolates and foreign countries accesses in GenBank was done successfully. A total of 31 samples were isolated for Brucella species and then were amplified byPCR, directly sequenced and compared genetically to published sequences which were obtained from GenBank. The most common Brucella species that was found in both bovine (76.5%) and caprine (85.7%) through diagnostic samples in Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Bukit Tengah, was Brucella melitensis. PCR and sequencing were confirmed positive with 76.5% for Brucella melitensis, 23.5% for Brucella abortus and 23.5% for mixed infectionfrom the total of 17 bovine samples. In caprine, the detection of Brucella melintesis and Brucella abortus showed 85.7% and 21.4% respectively meanwhile total mixedinfection showed 21.4%. These clustering between local isolates of Brucella melitensis were phylogenetically related to other Asian countries such as Singapore,Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The Neighbour Joining Analysis clustered the Brucella abortus local isolates for both bovine and caprine were most closely related to India,Iran, Italy and USA. Interestingly, all the isolates within Malaysia have a close relationship (>95%) with the low level of genetic diversity. When local isolates arecompared to GenBank data, it gives an indication on the possible sources of these infections. Eventually, it will improve the import and export policies to controlbrucellosis in Malaysia.

Goose Parvovirus (GPV) also known as Derzy’s disease is aninfectious viral disease of waterfowl which causes serious economic loss in industrial production of geese and Muscovy ducks. In year 2014, Derzy’s disease was detected in Pekin ducks from Sarawak. The affected farm recorded up to 50% mortality, affecting only young ducklings (starting at the age of 3 weeks). Polymerase chainreaction (PCR) from liver samples were performed based on partial region of VP3 gene of GPV, generated amplicon of 801 bp. Sequence analysis showed that the isolate shared 99% sequence similaritywith goose parvovirus strain YBLJ and YZYZ20130304 from China. Phylogeny based on VP3 showed that this isolate is grouped under Asian strains. This is the first report of GPV in Malaysia focusingon the molecular analysis. Notably, this study revealed that GPV not only can be detected from goose and Muscovy but also from Pekin duck.

A total of 2803 bloodsamples from ruminant livestock werereceived for diagnosis for parasiticinfections from 2011 to 2015. Theruminant samples were from small holderand commercial farms from the states ofNegeri Sembilan, Melaka, Selangor andthe Federal Territory. The results indicatethe presence of theileriosis, anaplasmosis,babesiosis and trypanosomiasis in theseanimals. The most common parasiteidentified annually is theileriosis in cattle.This information is vital for disease controlstrategies as most blood protozoa causemorbidity and is transmitted by vectorssuch as ticks.

A study was conducted to identify the current status of Fasciolaand Paramphistomum infections in small ruminants in Terengganu. A total of 267 faecal samples from small ruminants were collected and subjected to sedimentation technique. Serum samples were diagnosed for detection of IgG antibody for Fasciola infection using sELISA method. Results showed that there were 4% of the goats positive with Paramphistomum eggs whereas Fasciola egg was not observed in any of the faecal samples. However, it was found that 89% of the serum samples from goats were positive with IgG antibody for Fasciola infection. Small ruminants in Terengganu were not infected with severe Fasciola and Paramphistomum infections yet the results obtained from this study will update the current status of the infections. This information will help the farmers and the Department of Veterinary Services to plan on management to maintain the animals’ health.

Transabdominal ultrasonography has been popularly used in animal reproduction for the assessment of pregnancy status and foetal viability where as transvaginal method for pregnancy diagnosis is rarely used for pregnancy diagnosis in goats. The study was conducted in 74 Attappady Black goats from Government Goat Farm, Attappady and Livestock Research Station, Thiruvizhamkunnu to evaluate the accuracy of trans-vaginal methods and to identify the fetal characteristics from day 20 to 75. Transvaginal ultrasonographic examination was performed using endocavity transducer with frequency of 6.5 to 8 MHz. Observations were made in all the pregnant does at three different stages of pregnancy i.e., 20-35 days, 35-55 days and 55-75 days. Does were diagnosed as pregnant from the observation of gestational sac, embryo or foetus, embryonic or foetal heartbeat, placentomes or foetal skeleton. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall accuracy along gestation period were 98.03, 92.3, 96.15, 96 and 95.62%, respectively. It is concluded from the present study that transvaginal ultrasonography can be used for herd pregnancy diagnosis at early stages from day 20 to 45 of pregnancy diagnosis in goats.

In Peninsular Malaysia, footand-mouth disease (FMD) has been reported since early 1860 which then became sporadic, causing outbreaks every year. Since then, Peninsular Malaysia has become endemic with FMD. The aim of this study is to provide findings of the current FMD occurrence and its serotyping in Peninsular Malaysia. An identification of Foot and Mouth Disease serotype was carried out in Peninsular Malaysia by the Regional Veterinary Laboratory Kota Bharu (RVLKB) only. Epithelial tissue samples were received from 10 states throughout Peninsular Malaysia from 2012 until 2016. Indirect sandwich ELISA was performed using ELISA kit for FMDV antigen detection supplied from the Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright Laboratory. All findings and results in this paper were based on samples received by RVLKB and does not reflect overall cases reported to State DVS or to DVS Malaysia. From the results, 2013 had the highest samples positive for FMDV (35% from 43 samples), followed by 2014 (31% from 80 samples), 2012 (24% from 122 samples), 2015 (21% from 39 samples) and the lowest is 2016 (17% from 194 samples). The FMDV serotypes detected throughout 2012 to 2016 from 110 positive samples were Serotype O (80%), followed by Serotype A (20%) and none from Serotype Asia 1. Strict regulation, FMD vaccine evaluation by LPB ELISA and strict animal movement shall be considered to achieve FMD free for upcoming Year 2020.

The main goal of feed analysis is to predict the productive response of animals, in this case ruminant production, when fed diets of a given nutrient composition. A systematic approach to the overall aspects of animal production is vital for a stable and profitable output. Ranking forages can benefit the local producers to value each type of forages they feed the animals. From this point of view, a database must be developed containing sufficient samples of feeds and forages with relevant data determined under relatively uniform conditions, although animal variation due to preference, physiological state or genetic potential for production may, on the other hand, contribute to errors in measurements of forage quality. Relative feed value (RFV) is the forage quality index used widely in the United States as an important tool in the marketing of forages. In Malaysia, however, this index has not been established for assessing the status of local grass quality and how it relates to the performance of the local ruminant industry. The objective of this paper is to estimate RFV of the local B. decumbens grass towards the future establishment of its index under tropical climate. RFV between 74-84 obtained from this study was calculated using CP and ME values from a 5-year proximate analysis data from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) of local B. decumbens, sampled from the southern region of Peninsular Malaysia. If this forage is produced on a large scale, this assessment can help the producers and farmers differentiate between lots that are more or less valuable, thus making it a useful marketing and decision-making tool.