A one way anova experiment was conducted to evaluate the meat production and physicochemical properties (pH, Color, Drip loss, Cook loss, TC, TG, Cholesterol, LDL, HDL and Iron content) of cattle and buffalo meat and blood. Five buffaloes and five cattle of similar age were considered as two groups and kept under a single plane of nutrition. No significant difference was observed between the groups in case of BCS, pH, drip loss and cooking loss of fresh or chilled meat. Buffalo meat reflected (L *) low lights (P LT 0.05) and showed significant (P LT 0.01) deep red - greenness (a *) contrast than cattle meat. Iron content of meat was found (P LT 0.05) higher in buffalo meat. In chemical composition, only ash and OM content differed significantly (P LT 0.05) between the species. IM fat and TC of buffalo meat was found significantly low (P LT 0.001) than cattle. Significant difference of TG and HDL (P GT 0.05) indicated the better quality of buffalo meat. But, LDL of meat and lipid profile of blood found non - significant. Finally we observed that, buffalo meat is better than cattle meat in context of nutritive value or physiochemical properties.

The present study was designed to correlate the milk pH, somatic cell count (SCC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities in buffalo milk with the udder health status. A total of 60 (Sixty) buffaloes were randomly selected irrespective of their age, breed, feeding practice, stage and season of lactation from the herd belonging to Purnadhadi buffalo unit, PGIVAS, Teaching Veterinary Clinical complex, PGIVAS, Veterinary Polyclinic, Akola and also buffaloes of farmers in and around Akola. After thorough clinical examination of each udder, about 30 ml of milk was collected in sterilized, clean, dry plastic bottles and after careful screening by CMT, categorized in normal, sub- clinical (1+), sub- clinical (2+), sub- clinical (3+) and clinical group containing 12 animals in each group. The pH was measured using a digital pH meter (E.I. Model 101E) and SCC was calculated in freshly collected milk. LDH and ALP activities were measured by spectrophotometric method. The milk pH, SCC, LDH and ALP activities were found proportional to the severity of the udder infection as detected by the CMT reactions.

The study objective was to evaluate the efficacy of Ceftiofur hydrochloride intramammary (IMM) formulation (Spectramast LC, Zoetis India) with or without parenteral Cefoperazone/Sulbactum antibiotic on bacteriological cure, clinical cure and pathogen cure in lactation clinical mastitis (CM) when compared with control group treated with Amoxicillin-Sulbactum. The study was conducted from September 2015 through December 2017 on lactating buffaloes suffering from clinical mastitis (n=307) (Treatment group, T1 = 156 and Control group, T2 = 151) mostly at farmer's doorstep and also the participation of organized buffalo herds located at Hisar (n=2), Sirsa (n=1) from Haryana and at Nabha (n=1) from Punjab after follow up 1 and 2 at day 10 and 21 respectively. Infected quarters in Grade I and II lactation CM Treatment group (T1) were treated from day 0 to day 4 i.e. for 5 consecutive days with Ceftiofur hydrochloride IMM formulation or in Grade III lactation CM, IMM Ceftiofur hydrochloride along with parenteral Cefoperazone/Sulbactum. Control group (T2) received treatment from day 0 to day 2 i.e. for 3 consecutive days with Amoxicillin-Sulbactum antibiotic. Of 307 buffaloes infected with CM at day 0 pre-treatment, 93.49 percent of milk samples came culture positive whereas 52.12 percent (n=160/307) and 29.64 percent (91/307) of culture positive milk samples were there at day 10 and day 21 post-treatment respectively. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most prevalent causative agent followed by other gram positive, mixed infection, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., other coliform, Pseudomonas, other gram negative and Enterococcus spp. While apparent bacteriological cure rate of IMI was 50.37 percent (at animal level) at day 10 post-treatment in the Treatment group receiving Spectramast LC, it was 77.78 percent at day 21 post-treatment in the same group. The bacteriological cure rate of 45.45 percent and 57.58 percent were observed at day 10 and day 21 post-treatment in Control group respectively. Buffaloes receiving Spectramast LC (Treatment group) were 1.12 times (at day 10) and 1.35 times (at day 21) more likely to cure than Control group. Treatment group showed numerically higher clinical and pathogen cure than control group.

Paratuberculosis (PTB) in buffaloes is a chronic enteric disease triggering health implications and huge economic losses in livestock. This study was designed to explore a simple, cost-effective diagnostic approach for PTB in water buffaloes. Blood (5 ml/animal) and intestinal tissue samples accompanied by lymph nodes associated with mesentery were collected from weak and diarrhoeac animals slaughtered at local abattoirs. Out of total n=771 clinically suspected animals, only n=53 carcasses were sampled based on gross observation. Tissue smears of the gut mucosae were obtained and were made adopting special staining protocol. Tissue samples were processed by paraffin sectioning and stained with Ziehl-Neelsen and Hematoxylin-Eosin staining methods. Acid-fast bacilli were observed only in 11/53 cases on mucosal tissue smears. Pressure atrophy of small intestine villi were evident, and the mucosae were found sloughed off. The submucosae were heavily infiltrated with mononuclear cells and multifocal cellular nodules dominated by epithelioid macrophages. The foamy cytoplasm of the macrophages appeared to be engorged with acid fast bacilli and depicted the positive cases. All tissue sections of the suspected samples showed 100 percent +ve results while only 20.8 percent samples were found +ve with smear method. All histo-pathologically positive cases were further confirmed by ELISA based serological analysis. Therefore, it was concluded that histopathology is an economical and yet the most trusted tool for diagnosing bubalian PTB in countries like Pakistan.

Rumen microorganism community population and diversity in the swamp buffloes (Bubalus bulalis) were assessed by 4 types of treated rice straw. Four, yearling swamp buffalo were randomly assigned to a 4*4 Latin square design. The animals were fed with concentrate at 0.5 percent BW and were offered ad libitum with roughages, rice straw (RS), urea treated rice straw (UTS), yeast treated rice straw (YTS) and urea-lime treated rice straw (ULTS). It was found that intake and ruminal NH3-N were significantly different among dietary treatments and were found higher in swamp buffalo fed with YTS (P LT 0.05). Total VFAs were significantly different with roughage in swamp buffalo. Molar proportions of individual VFA in swamp buffalo were not affected by roughage sources. Feeding with YTS or ULTS increased cellulolytic bacteria population, particularly, the distribution of predominant bacteria, F. succinogenes, R. flavefaciens, and R. albus, respectively. The results from this study suggest that swamp buffaloes fed on yeast treated rice straw could improve rumen fermentation efficiency, rumen fibrolytic microbes' quantity and rumen ecology for the host buffaloes.

Mastitis is common in buffaloes with significant impact on the rural economy. The present work was undertaken to find out the prevalence of sub clinical mastitis in buffaloes in and around Gannavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India by using different diagnostic methods. The prevalence of sub clinical mastitis based on California Mastitis Test, somatic cell count, electrical resistance and milk pH was 20.34, 21.62, 6.20 and 8.27 percent, respectively on screening of 629 quarters of 158 Graded Murrah buffaloes. Bacterial culture was considered to be a gold standard and revealed the prevalence as 28.30 percent with 178 quarter milk samples positive for bacterial growth. Further the study was also focussed on the comparison of the diagnostic tests CMT, SCC, ER and pH by using culture results as gold standard. The percent accuracy of California Mastitis Test, Somatic cell count, electrical resistance and pH were 89.83, 92.69, 77.27 and 79.65, respectively.

The present study was designed to investigate the incidence of retention of fetal membranes (RFM) on 605 buffaloes at 2nd to 5th calving with normal calving, premature birth and abortion. The normally calved buffaloes with retention of fetal membranes (after 12 h) were randomly classified in treatment (n = 6) and control (n = 6) groups. The buffaloes in treatment group were administered Dinoprost (PGF2 alpha analogue, 25 mg), Meloxicam (anti-inflammatory drug 0.5 mg/kg body weight,), Oxytetracycline (Broadspectrum antibiotics, 5 mg/kg body weight) intramuscularly and intravenous calcium therapy (Calcium gluconate, 1.86 percent w/v, Magnesium hypophosphite, 5 percent w/v, Dextrose anhydrous, 20 percent w/v, Chlorocresol 0.1 percent w/v, 450 ml) after 12 after calving. The incidence of retention of fetal membranes in buffaloes was 9.98 percent, 34.61 percent and 46.87 percent in normal calving, premature birth and abortion, respectively. The overall incidence of RFM was 14.04 percent. There was significant rise in the level of calcium (P LT 0.01), phosphorus (P LT 0.05) and magnesium (P LT 0.05) on day 30 and day 45 in treatment than control group. However, there was no significant difference observed in level of glucose, NEFA and progesterone between treatment and control group on day 0, 30 and 45. RFM is considered as one of the major problem with higher incidence in premature birth and abortions by ultimately affecting the reproductive efficiency in buffaloes.

Eighteen apparently healthy pregnant buffaloes divided into three groups according to gestational stages, i.e. early, mid and late gestation were selected and blood samples were collected. Serum total protein, albumin, globulin and A: G ratio were estimated along with IL-1 beta. The concentration of IL-1 beta increased from early gestation to mid gestation and declined towards late gestation. Concentration of serum total protein, albumin, globulin and A: G was highest during late gestation (8.23+-0.26 g/dl), mid-gestation (3.95+-0.10 g/dl/), late gestation (4.68+-0.21 g/dl/) and early gestation (0.84+-0.12). Concentration of IL-1 beta, serum total proteins, albumin, globulin and A: G was statistically non-significant during all three stages of gestation.

Data on 4971 test-day milk yield traits [milk (TDMY), fat (TDFY) and protein (TDPY)] for 691 Egyptian buffalo cows, daughters of 120 sires and 532 dams were used for fitting the lactation curve parameters of milk, fat and protein yields using multiple-trait animal model. The random effects included in the model were direct additive genetic, permanent environment and error, while the fixed effects were herd test-day, year and season of calving and parity as well as days in milk as a covariable. The means for TDMY, TDFY, TDPY and lactation curve parameters [initial (a), ascending slope (b), descending slope (c), persistency (P), and maximum milk production during lactation (Ymax) and the peak test-day (PY)] were estimated. Heritabilities of TDMY, a, b, c, P, PY and Ymax were 0.22, 0.37, 0.38, 0.39, 0.37, 0.37 and 0.38, respectively. The corresponding heritabilities for TDFY and fat curve parameters were 0.21, 0.41, 0.40, 0.39, 0.38, 0.36 and 0.42, while the estimates for TDPY and protein curve parameters were 0.22, 0.38, 0.40, 0.40, 0.38, 0.40 and 0.43, respectively. Genetic correlations among TDMY and curve parameters of a, b, c, P, PY and Ymax were 0.31, -0.23, -0.34, 0.52, 0.48 and 0.87, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between milk yield traits were high (mostly of 0.83 and 0.99), like the correlations between curve parameter in milk, fat and protein (from 0.71 to 0.96). In practice, genetic selection for lactation curve parameters (a, P and Ymax) in the Egyptian buffalo would improve total milk yield traits.

The present study was undertaken (1) to characterize the FA composition particularly on the concentration of conjugated linoleic acid (2) to investigate of physicochemical properties of Anatolian water buffalo milk, and from six different provinces in Turkey. The fat amount in water buffalo milk samples were in the range of 5.97+-0.30 percent to 9.19+-0.57 percent and the mean fat was 6.96+-0.25 percent. The main individual FA in water buffalo milk were in the order 16:0, 18:1 cis-9, 14:0, and 18:0. The CLA, bovinic acid (cis-9, trans-11), represented 1.09+-0.06 in water buffalo milk. Saturated fatty acids (SFA) were the potent fraction in water buffalo milk fat (70.63+-0.7), MUFA and PUFA were 29.37+-0.7 and 0.2+-0.03, respectively. The data exhibit statistically differences (P LT= 0.05) in the proportions of individual FA were detected among different provinces in Turkey. Anatolian water buffalos were poor in terms polyunsaturated FA compared to other water buffalos from different countries. Therefore, these results may provide useful information about the nutrient composition of buffalo milk and further studies are warranted to improve the technological and nutritional characteristics of Anatolian buffalo milk.