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.

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.

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

Heartwater, one of the major tick-borne diseases of some domestic and wild ruminants in Africa, is caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium. The genetic diversity of E. ruminantium isolates renders the available vaccine ineffective against certain virulent isolates. To better understand the E. ruminantium genotypes in South Africa, a total of 1004 Amblyomma hebraeum tick deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples from cattle in three South African provinces were tested by pCS20 Sol1 real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and characterised by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) using five housekeeping genes. Out of 1004 samples tested, 222 (22%) were positive for E. ruminantium. The occurrence of E. ruminantium in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces was 19%, 22% and 27%, respectively. The E. ruminantium positive samples were screened for housekeeping genes and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed three main lineages: clade 1 made up of worldwide isolates (eastern, southern Africa, and Caribbean isolates), clade 2 comprised only West African isolates and clade 3 consisted of Omatjenne, Ku&#776;mm2 and Riverside. Some study sample sequences were not identical to any of the reference isolates. However, they could all be grouped into the worldwide clade. Genetic variation in the sequenced regions was observed in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Using MLST to characterise E. ruminantium field isolates allowed the South African genotypes to be clearly distinguished from the distinct West African isolates. CONTRIBUTION: Characterisation of E. ruminantium field isolates is important for the control of heartwater and contributes to preliminary knowledge required for the development of a more practical vaccine against heartwater.

Abortifacient pathogens such as bacterial [Brucella spp., Listeria spp., Leptospira interrogans ser., Coxiella burnetii, Campylobacter spp., Anaplasma spp., Chlamydia spp], mycotic [Aspergillus species and Candida species], protozoan [Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora spp.], and viral [Bluetongue virus (BTV), Schmallenberg virus (SBV), Bovine viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV), and Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV)] pathogens are challenges for the productive and reproductive performance of ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats) globally. No comprehensive report on epidemiology, associated risk factors, or economic burden of these infectious pathogens is available for Nigeria. This review estimated the distribution and burden of abortive pathogens in ruminants in Nigeria for the last twenty-two years (2000-2022). Research articles reporting the detection of any of the above-mentioned abortive pathogens in ready-to-slaughter ruminants (RTSR), sick ruminants (SR), and ruminants with abortive history (RWAH) in Nigeria were accessed using different repositories, including Google Scholar, Proquest, PubMed, ResearchGate and Scopus to determine the prevalence, spatial distribution, and associated risk factors. From a total of 140 articles selected for this review, eight bacterial, four viral, two parasitic, and two mycotic infectious agents were reported for Nigeria. This study reveals a prevalence of 28.2% viral agents, 14.43% bacterial pathogens, 14.24% protozoans, and 28.1% fungal agents in the reported tested samples. Brucellosis was the most often reported among bacterial diseases, followed by leptospirosis and listeriosis. Peste des petits ruminants virus infection was the most common viral disease, followed by bluetongue virus disease. Additionally, two parasitic diseases, neosporosis and toxoplasmosis, and two mycotic diseases, aspergillosis and candidiasis, were reported. In this study, stillbirth and abortion were recorded in 49.2% of sheep with PPRV, 58.95% in goats with Chlamydophila abortus and PPRV, and 6.4% in cattle with Brucella abortus and Histophilus somni infections. Lack of vaccines, open markets, and extensive husbandry systems were among the risk factors associated with different abortive pathogens. This study is a useful tool for researchers and government officers in risk assessment and management of livestock to improve livestock production in Nigeria.

The facultative intracellular pathogen Brucella and the free-living bacteria Ochrobactrum are both α-proteobacteria and very close to each other. A group of researchers recently clustered Ochrobactrum strains into the genus Brucella according to a BLAST distance approach. Thus, we performed a deeper comparative genetic analysis for eleven Ochrobactrum strains and twelve different Brucella isolates to demonstrate important differences between these bacteria. In addition to the clear differences between Brucella and Ochrobactrum, like the differences in genes contents, and different genome sizes, the Brucella-specific gene bscp31 was not found in Ochrobactrum, as well as other important Brucella-specific proteins and virulence factors. Differences in antimicrobial resistance genes content and the presence or absence of plasmids were obvious between Brucella and Ochrobactrum spp. Genome alignment of Brucella spp. and Ochrobactrum spp. revealed a genome similarity of 85.7% maximum, whereas all analyzed Brucella spp. in this study had a similarity of 97.6-99.9%, and all compared Ochrobactrum spp. 82.6-98.0%. Because of these facts mentioned in this work, Brucella and Ochrobactrum should be considered separate genera.

This research aimed to determine the accuracy of the progesterone test kit for milk and blood for early pregnancy diagnosis in Ettawa cross goats (PE). Five lactating PE goats were used in this study and were synchronized with PGF2 intramuscularly. The result is that all goats showed a sign of estrus. Four goats were mated naturally, while one other was not mated. The determination of day 0 was when the females were standing heat. The early pregnancy diagnosis using dairy cow test strips was performed 18-22 days after mating or post-estrus. The accuracy of the diagnosis was confirmed by ultrasound on day 35 after mating/post estrus. Diagnosis using the milk progesterone kit showed negative results for five days of examination in all goats, whereas using the blood progesterone kit showed positive results in four goats. When confirmed, the ultrasound showed that one goat was not pregnant, and four other goats were pregnant. It can be concluded that the pregnancy test strip kits containing progesterone are effective in diagnosing early pregnancy in PE goats with high accuracy in blood samples (100%) despite low accuracy in milk samples (20%).

This study aims to determine the histomorphometry of the small intestine of turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) at different age levels. This study used a completely randomized design. This study used 18 male turkeys, divided into 3 groups of ages 8, 16, and 24 weeks, each group comprising 6 turkeys. The necropsied turkey's small intestine was taken into histological preparations and stained with haematoxylin-eosin (HE). The results showed that the histological picture of the small intestine layer of turkeys at different age levels consisted of four layers: tunica mucosa, tunica submucosa, tunica muscular, and tunica serosa. Histomorphometrically, there was an increase in the thickness of all layers of the small intestine from 8 and 16 weeks of age (P0.05), and the height of the intestinal villi increased in all parts of the small intestine at 8, 16, and 24 weeks of age (P0.05). In conclusion, with histomorphometric measurements, it can be seen that there are differences in the three age groups.

One of the fishery products that decomposes very rapidly is shrimp. Utilizing natural preservatives, such asAverrhoa bilimbiL. juice, is one method for maintaining the quality of food ingredients. This study aims to determine the effect of addingA. bilimbiL. juice with different concentrations and soaking times on vannamei shrimp decay. In this study, an experimental laboratory was used to examine decay using the Postma and H2S tests. As much as 500 g of vannamei shrimp were divided into four treatment groups and two repetitions, with 5 g of each sample soaked inA. bilimbiL. juice with concentrations of 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% for 0, 3, 6, and 9 hours. Early decay was observed at 0 and 3 hours after soaking vannamei shrimp in solutions with concentrations of 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%. At concentrations of 5%, 7.5%, and 10%, there was no initial decay after soaking vannamei shrimp for six hours at a concentration of 0% and 2.5%. During 9 hours of soaking at concentrations of 0%, 2.5%, and 5%, initial decay occurred, whereas there was no initial decay at concentrations of 7.5% and 10%. The conclusion of this research isA. bilimbiL. juice with concentrations of 7.5% and 10% for 6 and 9 hours inhibits the decomposition of vannamei shrimp.

The impact of free radicals on testicular Leydig cells can result in the disruption of male reproductive health. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of a high-fat diet on Leydig cells and the potential of kepok banana peel extract as a medication to mitigate these effects. In total of 20 adult male Wistar rats were assigned to five groups and treated with standard feed (P1), high-fat feed (P2), high-fat feed with simvastatin (P3), and high-fat feed with banana peel extract at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg BW (P4 and P5). After 60 days of treatment, the number of Leydig cells was determined using HE staining methods. Data were analyzed using an One Way ANOVA test. The results showed that the administration of 100 mg/kg BW of kepok banana peel extract (P4) was able to maintain the number of Leydig cells and counteract the negative effects of a high-fat diet. These findings suggest that kepok banana peel extract may have the potential as a herbal medicine for supporting male reproductive health.