The management of indigenous pigs in rural villages of Busia and Kakamega district, Western Kenya, is discussed. Data on husbandry practices, challenges and farmers knowledge on T. solium taeniosis / cysticercosis were gathered using questionnaires administered in face-to-face interviews. Pigs were examined for cysticercosis using the lingual palpation method. Data were managed in Stata®. Majority of the farmers were aged 30-50 years (44%), and were mostly women (69%). Years of pig keeping experience was higher in Kakamega (11.4±8.7) than it was in Busia (6.3±5.6) (P<0.05). Pork (31%) and beef (51%) were the most preferred meat types in the villages. Families owned an average of 0.94±0.81 hectares of land. The mean number of pigs owned per farm was 5.0 (±3.4), 1.8 (±1.2) and 1.5 (±0.9) for the pre-weaned, growing and adult pig categories, respectively. Constraints faced by the farmers included feeding (65%), diseases (46%), fewer breeding boars (60 %), poor profits (61%) and conflicts with neighbours (53%). Parasite control was poor. The majority of farmers (73%) had no pig house. These farmers either lacked skills to build the houses (11%; 23/209) or had no money to purchase construction materials (45%; 93/209). Tethering of pigs was frequent (>50%) during the planting (91%; 263 / 290), growing (90%; 263 / 290) and crop harvesting seasons (78%; 227 / 290). Prevalence of pig cysticercosis was 4.5%. Piglets were significantly cheaper in Busia (Ksh 509±57) than in Kakamega (Ksh 777±174) (P<0.05). Indigenous pig management in Western Kenya is reportedly poor. Improved knowledge coupled with changes in local husbandry practices would improve productivity, increase family incomes and safeguard the community from potential health risks associated with pig rearing.

This article summarizes data of determining a therapeutic dose of a new immunocorrecting drug, dermatocytoglobulin, developed by the authors of this study. It has been established that this drug has a therapeutic immunocorrecting effect on allergic dermatitis. Subjects of the study cattle, horses, of Raimbek – Commercial Diary Farm, 56 dogs and 35 cats admitted to a veterinary clinic. It has been established that administration of dermatocytoglobulin in trial groups reduces autoantibody titers until their elimination on the 12th day, dose of 0.2 cm3 per 10 kg while autoantibody titers in control groups were identified on the 30th day.

A study using participatory epidemiology (PE) methodologies was conducted in West Pokot and Baringo districts, Northern Rift Valley, Kenya to assess the status of East Coast Fever (ECF) and obtain livestock keepers’ perceptions of how the disease impacts on their livelihoods. A total of 658 livestock keepers comprising of 480 men and 178 women were invited to participate in community meetings held in twenty two purposively selected locations each in West Pokot and Baringo. Fifty six percent of the livestock keepers were from West Pokot while the remaining 54 percent were from Baringo District. Nearly all the households in both communities depended on cattle keeping as the major source of livelihood. The activity was ranked as priority enterprise by 96.2% and 93.3% of the groups in West Pokot and Baringo district respectively. Cattle diseases were identified as the main constraint affecting production and in particular, ECF and trypanosomosis were reported as the most important compared to other diseases. The informants were relatively consistent in estimating the impact of cattle diseases on derived benefits. There was good agreement among the various groups with coefficient of concordance (W) values ranging between 0.43 and 0.60 (p < 0:05 – p < 0.01). East Coast fever was found to have the greatest impact. Based on the findings from this study, there is need for stakeholders in the livestock industry to develop control strategies for ECF control that are supportive to the production system in a particular the region.

A cross-sectional survey was carried out to characterize the pig production systems in four districts along the Kenya-Uganda border. Information was collected by administering structured questionnaires to 645 households in 32 randomly selected clusters. The study showed that the majority of the farmers owned very small pig herds (2.4±0.1) which were mainly tethered. Their main objective for pig keeping was income generation. Decisions on pig purchases were predominantly made by either women or by women and men in collaboration while day to day care of the animals was performed by women. Disease especially African swine fever (ASF) was considered to be the biggest risk to pig investment, while feeding was the biggest production constraint. Studies that look into cheaper locally available feed options should be undertaken to enable the farmers solve the feed constraint. Sensitization of farmers to adopt biosecurity measures would reduce disease risk especially ASF risk.

High economic losses in agriculture can be caused by pig disease like Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS). Porcine circovirus-2 (PCV2) is the primary agent of PMWS. It is known that PMWS causes cellular and humoral immunity disorders, therefore it is considered a general immune deficiency disease in piglets. It is still unknown, why piglets with PMWS have severe loss of lymphocytes in lymphoid tissues and in the blood. Thus, the hypothesis of the study was that lymphocyte depletion occurs because of lymphocyte life-cycle delay in pigs infected by PCV2. The activity of cell life-cycle is attributed to protein Ki67. This protein is found in all active phases of the cell like interphase G1, S, G2 and mitoses. However, protein Ki67 is not observed at all in the cell’s “quiet” phase G0. The aim of our work was to investigate the lymph node cell proliferation activity of pigs infected by PCV2. In total, 42 pig carcasses were collected from 5 to 15 weeks old pigs with PMWS clinical manifestation. Lymph nodes were selected from each pig carcass for histological and immunohistochemical testing. We concluded that B lymphocyte population was reduced first in the lymph node with PCV2, but the number of T lymphocytes decreased later. PCV2 decreased B lymphocyte proliferation activity.

The aim of this study was to detect radiodensity of a medial coronoid process of elbow joints with a medial coronoid disease and normal elbow joints in dogs. The study includes 91 large and giant breed dogs at the age from 6 to 30 months. Medial coronoid disease was diagnosed in 65 dogs and 26 dogs had normal elbow joints. Computed tomography was performed with Philips MX – 16 CT scanner and imaging data analysis performed using Horos v.2.2.0 software. CT technical data included 140 kVp, 250 mAs, 1 second rotation time and 0.75 slice thickness. The density of a medial coronoid process (MCP) was measured by two unrelated measurement methods. The study describes Hounsfield unit values in different areas of MCP in normal elbow joints and in medial coronoid disease affected joints. In 91.8% cases, MCP subchondral sclerosis observed with MCP fragmentation or fissure. We conclude that both bone density measurement methods are suitable for veterinary diagnostic imaging and can be used to evaluate canine elbow joints.

Canine elbow dysplasia is an heritable orthopaedic disease which includes medial coronoid disease, osteochondritis dissecans and ununited anconeal process, as well as, elbow incongruity. Medial coronoid disease (MCD) is one of the most frequent parts of elbow dysplasia syndrome. The aim of the study was to describe medial coronoid process CT findings in dogs with thoracic limb lameness. In cases where there is suspicion of medial coronoid disease for dogs with lameness, an orthopaedic examination and CT were performed. CT examination was done with Philips MX-16 – slice CT scanner. The study represents data from a time frame between September 2014 and December 2015. Examinations were done at The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Latvia University of Agriculture. The study included 20 large breed dogs, 14 males and 6 females, ages ranging from 6 to 60 months, with a median age of 21.7 ± 13.7 months. Results showed that, in most cases, the dogs had subtrochlear sclerosis of the ulna and fragmentation of medial coronoid. Computed tomography revealed 12 dogs with medial coronoid disease in both elbows, whereas 8 dogs only in one of the elbow joints.

The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) extract on Cryptosporidium spp. invasion in calves. Sea buckthorn is a good source of vitamins, carotenoids, organic acids and tannins. It has been reported that it possesses anti-inflammatory effect, as well as anthelmintic and antibacterial activity. Research was conducted in a dairy cattle farm ‘Mežacīruļi’ during April and July 2015. Experimental (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups of calves were used. The experimental group received a mix of aqueous alcohol sea buckthorn leaf and berry pomace extract, administered with milk, at dose of 5 – 8 mL twice a day for 20 days. The control group received only milk. Samples were analysed with the concentration McMaster technique. The results showed that there is no significant (p is greater than 0.05) difference in the number of oocysts per gram of faeces between the experimental and control groups. It was concluded that the administration of sea buckthorn leaf and berry pomace extract had no effect on Cryptosporidium spp. invasion in calves. Studies will be continued with a higher dose of extract.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous concentrated cocktail of growth factors and inflammatory mediators, and has been considered to be potentially effective for cartilage repair. Animal clinical studies suggest that PRP is a promising treatment for cartilage injuries and relieving symptoms due to its three biological properties: an anabolic effect, enhancement of cartilage regeneration and inhibition of inflammation. The aim of this article is to analyse the available evidence on the clinical application of this biological approach to animals for the injective treatment of cartilage lesions and joint degeneration, and also to support the rationale for the use of platelet concentrates and to give indications on what to expect from intra-articular injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in animals. This article is a summary of analytical research papers about the use of platelet-rich plasma as a treatment for the osteoarthritis. The intra-articular injections do not just target cartilage; instead, platelet-rich plasma might influence the entire joint environment, leading to clinical improvement. Many biological variables might influence the clinical outcome and have to be studied to optimize PRP injective treatment of cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis.

The aim of research was to analyse the spread of goats eimeriosis in Latvia, determine the structure of eimeria species as well as the efficiency of treatment of goats eimeriosis. Coprological examination of goats, carried out with Fileborn method, showed that the average level of eimeriosis influence on goats was about 25.2% and 3 dominant species of emeria such as E.arloingi, E.ninakohlyakimovae and E.alijevi. The highest level of influence was discovered to animals under 1 year of age, as with E.ninakohlyakimovae (62.5%) as the dominant specie, to animal above 1 year of age - E.arloingi (57.3%-66.7%), respectively. As the result, such preparations as sulfadimetoxine in dosage 75 mg kg*[-1) amprolsol 50 mg kg*[-1) showed high level (about 91%) of efficiency of emeriosis treatment.