The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with Leptospira sp. in dogs attended at veterinary clinics in the city of João Pessoa, State of Paraíba, Northeast Brazil.  A total of 384 blood samples from dogs from 34 veterinary clinics were used from April 2015 to May 2016. The diagnosis of Leptospira sp. was carried out through Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT), using a collection of 20 pathogenic antigens and adopting a 1: 100 dilution as cutoff point. An epidemiological questionnaire was applied to the owners of the animals to obtain data to be used in the analysis of risk factors. The prevalence of seropositive animals was 11.7% (45/384), with reactions for serogroups Icterohaemorrhagiae (62.3%), Grippotyphosa (22.2%), Canicola (13.3%), Djasiman 2%) and Pomona (2.2%). The following risk factors were identified: age from 49 to 72 months (odds ratio = 2.74), Age > 72 months (odds ratio = 3.22), and monthly cleaning of the environment where the animals are kept (odds ratio = 10,70). It is concluded that dogs attended at veterinary clinics in João Pessoa are exposed to infection by Leptospira sp., with predominance of serogroups kept by wild animals, and it is suggested that the periodic cleaning of the environment where the animals are kept.

Helminths and protozoa are examples of endoparasites that, during their biological cycles, can alternate between free-life stages and parasitic stages in the environment. Pets, such as dogs and cats, live together with men and play an important role in the society; however, these animals may carry a large number of parasites which, besides showing direct pathogenicity to the host, represent risks to the human health, as is the case of parasitic zoonoses. Public areas like parks, gardens, squares and beaches may offer risks to human users since these environments may contain feces deposited by parasitized dogs. The present study  verified the occurrence of helminth eggs and/or protozoan cysts or oocysts in fecal samples collected from sand strips at the beaches Armação do Pântano do Sul, Campeche and Morro das Pedras, in the south of Florianópolis Island, Santa Catarina State (SC), during the summer period. Pet feces were collected in the 2016/2017 summer season, from December 2016 to February 2017. In the Laboratory of Animal Parasitology (CCA-UFSC), fecal samples were processed based on Willis-Mollay flotation technique and Hoffman sedimentation technique. Samples from all three analyzed beaches were positive for the presence of parasites and fecal material was found along the seashore, sites where people walk freely and barefoot. Of 104 fecal samples collected, 45 (43.27%) were positive for one or more parasites. The greatest prevalence was found in Campeche Beach, which had 72.22% positive samples. Ancylostomids were most prevalent, indicating that cutaneous larva migrans is likely to occur in humans. Other parasites such as Trichuris vulpis, Toxocara spp. and Giardia spp. were also detected in coproparasitological analyses. Based on the results, it was concluded that contamination of the beaches in Florianópolis Island, SC, constitutes a public health problem due to the possibility of zoonosis transmission. These results reinforce the importance of establishing health programs for parasite control and educational programs for elucidating the risks of transmission of these zoonoses to the population, as an attempt to reduce environmental contamination risks at beaches of seaside resorts.

Mammary neoplasms are described as the third most common type of feline tumor, after haematopoietic and skin tumors, and present a challenge for clinicians because the prognosis for feline mammary tumors ranges from guarded to poor. Thus, it is necessary to define new therapeutic approaches and establish more in-depth knowledge about this disease in felines. The main aspects of the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of feline mammary neoplasia were discussed, aiming to standardize the criteria and to serve as a guide for pathologists and veterinary clinicians.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the aim to assess aspects of cattle production. A multistage clustering model was used to select 2,202 farms in seven cattle production strata in the state, and a questionnaire was applied to obtain information related to the characterization of the farms and their management of animal reproduction and production. The study showed that livestock-rearing in Minas Gerais continues to be unspecialized. Triângulo Mineiro and North were the regions that used most technology and had highest beef cattle activity. The Zona da Mata region showed the least use of technology and had the smallest farms. Milk production in this state was distributed among all strata, but was concentrated among a few producers in the stratum of highest production, especially in the region of Alto Paranaíba. This study showed a great heterogeneity among the strata regarding the characteristics of type of exploitation, type of rearing, herd size, specialization and milk production. Thus, it validated the stratification established by the Ministério da Agricultura Pecuária e Abastecimento – MAPA (Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply), thereby suggesting that these strata should be maintained for further epidemiological studies.

To obtain plasma biochemistry values, blood was collected for 47 nesting females of apparently healthy Eretmochelys imbricata sea turtles using sodium heparin as an anticoagulant. Blood samples were collected in April-Jun for two years (nesting season). Hematologic characteristics, including packed cell volume, white blood cell counts, red blood cell count and hemoglobin level; and plasma chemistry values, including creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and glucose were measured. The data generated from this study may be useful for clinical assessment of health and disease of wild hawksbill sea turtles on nearshore habitats in the Gulf of Mexico, thus contributing to a conservation of this species.

Elephant Training Center (ETC) Way Kambas National Park (WKNP) was built to support human-elephant mitigation conflict. The small population of captive sumatran elephant in ETC WKNP need a comprehensive strategy in order to maintain the genetic variation of each individual and avoid inbreeding drive. Currently, genetic studies have opened new field studies in ecology, included conservation ecology. Patterns in variation of population has been investigated by molecular method supporting species conservation effort. The captive sumatran elephant’s ID Card is a necessary in database building, which included morphology, health status, and genetic profile. Genetic profile in each ID Card was filled by cytogenetic and molecular profile for RADP result, that initiated with DNA isolation. The DNA sources collected by blood sampling protocol described by Asiyah et al. (2016) from captive sumatran elephant in ETC, WKNP, and be carried to laboratory in cold condition. The DNA sources stored at 4oC and isolated following commercial protocol. The result of DNA isolation stored at -20oC until amplification analysis. DNA isolation was successfully done, for further individual genetic ID building.

Although urban spaces are increasingly recognised as viable habitats for wildlife, cities remain a major source of anthropogenic mortality for wild birds. While the sources of urban avian mortalities have been well documented in North America, these phenomena remain poorly studied in Southeast Asia, especially for resident species. Here we present the first summary of non-migratory urban bird mortalities for the heavily urbanised island of Singapore. We conducted a citizen science study using print and social media outreach to encourage members of the public to report their observations of dead birds between November 2013 and October 2017, and collected a total of 362 mortality records across 65 resident bird species and five mortality sources. Our results show that a diverse array of bird species is directly impacted by anthropogenic sources of mortality, although mortalities stemming from roadkill and cat predation are likely to be undersampled. We also find that forest-edge frugivores such as the Pink-necked Green Pigeon are likely to be especially vulnerable to building collisions. Our study shows that despite its limitations, opportunistic sampling using citizen science can generate large amounts of ecological data at relatively low cost, and serve as a cost-effective complement to standardised survey methodologies.

The need for wheat in Indonesia continues to increase and reaches 3.9 million tons per year. Around 80% of this requirement are supplied from, Canada, Australia and the United States. Gayo highland that belongs to the territory of Aceh province is potential for wheat plantation in Indonesia. Wheat plantation, however, faces various problems, one of them is pest attack. Various insect species come to wheat plantation and are predicted to get food sources both from vegetative and generative stages. The objectives of this study were to investigate composition and diversity of insect species in wheat plant either in vegetative or generative stages by adopting survey method. The results showed that total insects found in wheat plants were 2,858 individuals covering 13 ordos. Occurrence and diversity of the insects, either in vegetative and generative stages, tend to similar.

The purpose of this research was to identify the relationship of characteristic and knowledge of farmers to the successful of artificial insemination (AI) in Aceh Besar Districts. The number of respondents is 93 people from twenty three districts in Aceh Besar, selected purposively as the sample of this research. The instruments used in this research are questionnaire and direct observation in the field, while the observed variables are: farmer characteristics, farmer knowledge and artificial insemination result. The results of this research revealed that the characteristics and knowledge of the farmers were good and showed a real relationship to the successfulness of AI in Aceh Besar Districts. The average service per conception (S / C) in Aceh Besar Districts during 2017 was 1.32 while the conception rate (CR) was 86.36%. The results were in accordance with the standard of general guidance of Upsus Siwab Year 2017.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic vector-born viral disease named for the causative agent, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). CCHFV is a member of the family Nairoviridae, genus Orthonairovirus. The virus is mainly transmitted via tick bites. Other transmission pathways are contact to blood, other bodily fluids and tissues of viremic animals or human patients. The case fatality rate in humans lies between 2 and 80%. Unlike humans, animals do not show clinical signs but they develop a stable antibody titer after a short viremia (< 2 weeks). Hence, seroepidemiological studies in livestock are very useful as risk indicator for CCHF in humans. The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of CCHFV infections among cattle in different districts of Kosovo. This survey was carried out in 2013-2014. Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein of 932 cattle in Kosovo. These sera were collected from nine different districts of Kosovo (Suhareke, Rahovec, Malisheve, Kline, Decan, Drenas, Prizren, Peje and Gjakove) and were tested with different serological assays (ELISA and IFA) at Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Greifswald, Germany. Through these techniques it was possible to identify CCHFV-specific IgG antibodies in serum samples of infected animals. Specific IgG antibodies were detected in cattle from all sampled areas and detected prevalence were substantial in some districts (43, 64% in Malisheve, followed by 25.25% in Rahovec). The overall seroprevalence was 19.21% (179 positives), with major CCHFV risk areas in Malisheve and Rahovec.