PCV-2 associated disease and related losses occur commonly in high health status herds. With the advent of PCV-2 vaccines, these losses can be successfully reduced. In this study, there was a significant reduction (48%) in the mortality rate of the vaccinated pigs when
compared to the non-vaccinated pigs. Vaccination was conducted at day 21. In the vaccinated group, mortality was reduced from 5.25 % to 2.73%. This data indicates that the implementation of a PCV2 vaccination program can reduce the mortality rate of high health status pigs in Malaysia.

A detailed post mortem was carried out on a male Bryde’s whale
Balaenoptera brydei, a cetacean of suborder Mysticetes, with a wide geographical distribution. The stranded whale, weighing approximately 3.5 metric tons was found beached along the Pekan Nenasi River, Pahang in East Coast of Malaysia facing South China Sea. Gross pathology showed severe hemorrhagic gastritis, probably
due to foreign material found compacted in the multichamber stomach, severe congestion in the various vital organs due to toxemia, and severe endoparasite burden in the intestine. Thousands of Digeneans
were found in both the caecum and colon. Morphological identification was carried out on these parasites which were identified as Ogmogaster species. As co parasites, the acathocephalan worms Falsifilicollis species was also detected in the large intestine. Histological examination indicated severe bronchointerstitial embolic pneumonia, chronic interstitial
hemorrhages, intra alveolar septa thickening in lung tissue; chronic hepatic interstitial hemorrhage, hepatocellular and centrilobular degeneration on the liver tissue; renal tubular and glomerular
necrosis in kidney tissue; splenic necrosis and hemorrhages; intestinal mucosal layer necrosis and severe intestinal villi necrosis. The continuing survival of Bryde’s species whale is precarious, because of disregard for appropriate measures for their
conservation and to conduct appropriate study for the cause of death.

This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the
effectiveness of Neem leaf extracts, Azaridachta indica, an indigenous medicinal plant, against helminths of goats. Two extracts were prepared with distilled water using two different techniques; that is, the Neem leaves Water Extract (NLWE) and decoction of Neem
leaves(NLD). This study was carried out using 20 goats from a government farm in Perak. The two extracts showed variable degrees of efficacy in naturally infected goats, as measured by faecal egg count. Further evaluation is required to establish the efficacy.

A solar dryer was designed and constructed to dry fodder for livestock. The objectives of this project were to design and construct solar dryer systems for fodder drying and to evaluate the performance of the systems developed so that farmers can compare and choose an appropriate drying system to dry fodder. Two types of solar driers were designed in this study named as a) prototype solar dryer and b)greenhouse solar dryer. The performances of both systems were evaluated by observing their ability to achieve and maintain an optimum temperature of 60oC for a perfect drying process. In 2011, the prototype solar dryer was constructed at the Malaysia Veterinary Institute; however the results obtained were not as expected as the highest temperature achieved with the system was 44.9oC. Therefore, in 2012, the greenhouse solar dryer was constructed to replace the prototype model and the system has the ability to achieve the temperature up to 72.7oC.

A total of 204 rodents comprising of 14 species were identified from four different habitats namely urban, forest, paddy field and coastal. The Gombak forest reserve habitat was found to be ideal
for the survival of 11 different rodent species. Maxomys rajah, Leopoldamys sabanus and Sundamys muelleri were the predominant rodent species distributed in the Gombak forest. Rattus ratus diardii was found mainly in the urban, paddy field and coastal habitat (67.1%). Morphological measurements of the rodents trapped from the four habitats did not show any major changes.

The rapid method for predicting palm kernel cake quality with near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was investigated. Chemical tests for moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, total digestible nutrients (TDN), nitrogen free extract (NFE), metabolisable energy (ME), calcium and phosphorous were time
consuming and involve high cost. This technology can save considerable time by testing all the parameters simultaneously;
however accurate calibration of the equipment is essential. Near infrared (NIR) partial least square (PLS) regression models for determination of several palm kernel cake quality parameters were
developed from NIRFlex Model N-500 (Buchi). In general, reliable prediction results were obtained for the TDN (SEP = 0.85 r2 = 0.99), NFE (SEP = 0.42 r2 = 0.97) and crude protein (SEP = 0.57 r2 = 0.98)
PLS regression models.

The small ruminant industry in Malaysia is plagued by several significant problems related to health and management. Due to the hot, wet tropical climate, parasitic, bacterial and viral diseases are rampant and conveniently spread and enhanced by poor management. The Veterinary Research Institute has initiated a working group to
identify and control critical diseases in small ruminants as an educational cum advisory programme for farmers on the lower economic rung so that productivity and profits may be heightened. Farms are attended to base on the complaint of high mortality and morbidity, whereby a complete and holistic approach to disease control is taken. All the farms sampled were in the vicinity of the laboratory
that is within 150 km radius. Samples collected were faeces, blood (serum and whole blood) and nasal swabs as well as water and feed samples. A questionnaire on the management practices as well as
history of the farm was recorded. Tests on all samples were conducted according to routine procedures. Results from this study
on 7 farms involving 175 goats and sheep revealed that the common parasitic diseases encountered are helminthiasis, coccidiosis and blood protozoans. More than 80% of the animals showed strongyle and coccidial infections. The prominent bacterial infections are Caseous Lymphadenitis (34.3%), Brucellosis (Brucella melitensis), Leptospirosis (1.7%), Melliodosis and QFever whereas the viral diseases are Caprine Arthiritis Encephalitis (1.1%) and Blue Tongue (15.4%). Early detection for these diseases is critical so that production losses can be minimised. Poor nutrition and hygiene is a contributing factor for the high incidence of disease in small
ruminants. Farmer awareness on latest farming methods and services provided also contributes to general wellbeing of animals. One of the outcomes of this programme is to create awareness and getting farmers to be independent and confident in problem solving with regards to management and disease in their herds.