The squat lobster, Munidopsis cylindrophthalma (Alcock, 1894) was recorded for the first time from the Indian main land coast while investigating the biodiversity of the squat lobster of Gulf of Mannar during April, 2013. One specimen of the said species was collected as an incidental by-catch in the deep sea trawl fisheries off Thoothukudi coast of Gulf of Mannar, between 08º 35’ 22.5" N lat. 78º 27’ 40.9" E long and 08º 31’ 91.2" N lat. 78º 25’ 32.7"E long at a depth of 305-310 m. The present records show its extended distribution from Gulf of Mannar to east of Andamans and further to South China Sea. 

The total meat production in India is 9.29 million out of which 4.78 million tonnes is from poultry and the growth of poultry meat sector has increased by 6.86 % over previous year. The growth rate of backyard poultry population from 2012 to 2019 (45.79 %) is ten times higher than when compared to commercial poultry (4.50 %) (BAHS, 2022). The native chickens are slowly growing in nature and are preferred for better flavor and for the belief that natural, less intensive management systems provide desi birds with higher welfare levels, resulting in much better product quality and great demand. The meat from native chicken is more delicious and provides nutritional security and economic support for the rural and most suited for backyard system of rearing. The aim is to study the carcass traits of available native chicken in India and compare it with native chicken at Hosur. The carcass characteristic of the native chicken variety at Hosur was evaluated by sacrificing 25 birds of each sex at 16 weeks of age. The observed results were compared with the performances of other varieties of native chicken in India with respect to the parameters like New York dressing yield, eviscerated yield, Ready to cook yield, cut-up parts yield, Meat bone ratio and Giblets yield at each sex of the bird at different age of slaughter especially at 16 weeks of age. It helps to identify the variety of native chicken which had good carcass traits and could be utilized for table delicacy.

The sheep lungworm Dictyocaulus filaria is of world-wide distribution and causes verminous pneumonia which may result in weight loss and death of the infected sheep. The current investigation was carried out in an organized farm in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, India during the period from 2012 to 2014. Infected sheep showed clinical illness varying from dullness, depression, moderate coughing, dyspnoea and labored breathing with little mortality. On necropsy, both larval and adult stages of lungworm were recovered from trachea, bronchi and bronchioles. The identity of the nematodes was confirmed as D. filaria based on the socks shaped spicules in males and anterior knob in the larva. Of the 55 animals, including 17 lambs examined during the study period, eight animals were confirmed to have died due to verminous pneumonia. Apart from that, in a few lambs, lung abscess was noticed. Though the infection was present throughout the year, the clinical illness was pronounced in dry summer (n=23) and rainy season of south west monsoon (n=19). The disease was managed by minimizing the exposure of lambs to the contaminated pasture and by deworming with two doses of levamisole hydrochloride @ 7.5 mg/ kg body weight at 21 day interval to control the lungworm infection in sheep.

Hookworms of dogs especially Ancylostoma caninum and A.ceylanicum are the predominant gastro intestinal parasites of zoonotic significance. These are soil transmitted helminths (STH) whose larvae dwell in the soil and are capable of penetrating the host skin and then establishing itself in the intestine causing gastro-enteritis  and  anaemia.  Both  A.caninum  and  A.ceylanicum  can  infect dogs and their zoonotic potential is different and speciation becomes a necessity especially since it is difficult to distinguish the species morphologically. The current study was envisaged for molecular speciation of the hookworms affecting dogs in Chennai. A total of 185 faecal samples were examined of which 58 (31.35%) were positive samples and these were subjected to molecular speciation. The primers targeting ITS-1 gene of the parasite were designed and it was found that A.caninum  was  the  predominant  species  prevalent  amongst  dogs  in  Chennai.

The total meat production in India is 9.29 million out of which 4.78 million tonnes is from poultry and the growth of poultry meat sector has increased by 6.86 % over previous year. The growth rate of backyard poultry population from 2012 to 2019 (45.79 %) is ten times higher than when compared to commercial poultry (4.50 %) (BAHS, 2022). The native chickens are slowly growing in nature and are preferred for better flavor and for the belief that natural, less intensive management systems provide desi birds with higher welfare levels, resulting in much better product quality and great demand. The meat from native chicken is more delicious and provides nutritional security and economic support for the rural and most suited for backyard system of rearing. The aim is to study the carcass traits of available native chicken in India and compare it with native chicken at Hosur. The carcass characteristic of the native chicken variety at Hosur was evaluated by sacrificing 25 birds of each sex at 16 weeks of age. The observed results were compared with the performances of other varieties of native chicken in India with respect to the parameters like New York dressing yield, eviscerated yield, Ready to cook yield, cut-up parts yield, Meat bone ratio and Giblets yield at each sex of the bird at different age of slaughter especially at 16 weeks of age. It helps to identify the variety of native chicken which had good carcass traits and could be utilized for table delicacy.

The squat lobster, Munidopsis cylindrophthalma (Alcock, 1894) was recorded for the first time from the Indian main land coast while investigating the biodiversity of the squat lobster of Gulf of Mannar during April, 2013. One specimen of the said species was collected as an incidental by-catch in the deep sea trawl fisheries off Thoothukudi coast of Gulf of Mannar, between 08º 35’ 22.5" N lat. 78º 27’ 40.9" E long and 08º 31’ 91.2" N lat. 78º 25’ 32.7"E long at a depth of 305-310 m. The present records show its extended distribution from Gulf of Mannar to east of Andamans and further to South China Sea. 

Rabies is zoonotic viral encephalitis targeting the nervous system of several vertebrates and transmitted mostly through the saliva of the infected host causing extensive neurological dysfunction. In this study, 873 post-mortem examinations of different species of animals were done in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, Pookode and 17.64% were diagnosed as rabies positive by using direct fluorescent test (d-FAT). Out of all the rabies positive cases, 76.6% were dogs, 9.1% large ruminants, 8.4% cats and 4.5% goats. In dogs, non-descript dogs were highest followed by Labrador, Pomeranian, German Shepherd, crossbred dogs, Rottweiler, Doberman and Spitz. The male dogs contributed about 69.5% of positive cases. Highest number of cases of rabies in animals were found during the winter season (January to March) comprising 33.76% of all the rabies cases.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute, highly contagious, OIE notifiable and economically important transboundary viral disease of sheep and goats. PPR is enzootic in India as a greater number of outbreaks have occurred in the past and now occurring regularly round the year and throughout the country. The PPR outbreaks in sheep and goats have declined in some of the Indian states Viz., Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh after implementing the strategic mass vaccination campaigns. The decreased number of outbreaks, as well as changes in the disease severity patterns and distribution, might be due to the effectiveness of the vaccine, timely vaccination, and most importantly effective implementation of the vaccination strategic plan. This review is focused upon the overall understanding of the National PPR Control Programme (PPR -CP) and its strategies vaccination implantation in India for the control and eradication of PPR. 

The sheep lungworm Dictyocaulus filaria is of world-wide distribution and causes verminous pneumonia which may result in weight loss and death of the infected sheep. The current investigation was carried out in an organized farm in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, India during the period from 2012 to 2014. Infected sheep showed clinical illness varying from dullness, depression, moderate coughing, dyspnoea and labored breathing with little mortality. On necropsy, both larval and adult stages of lungworm were recovered from trachea, bronchi and bronchioles. The identity of the nematodes was confirmed as D. filaria based on the socks shaped spicules in males and anterior knob in the larva. Of the 55 animals, including 17 lambs examined during the study period, eight animals were confirmed to have died due to verminous pneumonia. Apart from that, in a few lambs, lung abscess was noticed. Though the infection was present throughout the year, the clinical illness was pronounced in dry summer (n=23) and rainy season of south west monsoon (n=19). The disease was managed by minimizing the exposure of lambs to the contaminated pasture and by deworming with two doses of levamisole hydrochloride @ 7.5 mg/ kg body weight at 21 day interval to control the lungworm infection in sheep.