In this study, three different methods were compared for the identification of some Gram-positive and Gramnegative reference bacteria. Material and Methods: For this purpose, the identification accuracy rates of Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Serratia marcescens were analysed by conventional bacteriological methods, commercial bacterial identification test kit (Microgen™ ID) and automated bacteria identification system (BD Phoenix 100™).

In this study, microbiological quality of tantuni that have been consumed in the province of Van was examined. Materials and Methods: For this purpose; 100 tantuni samples, whose 79 of them were red meat tantuni (raw and cooked) and 21 of them chicken tantuni (raw and cooked) were used as material.According to analysis findings with regard to aerobic mesophilic organisms, coliform group microorganisms, E. coli, micrococcus/staphylococcus, S. aureus, C. perfringens and yeast-mould at the samples of raw and cooked red meat tantuni were found to be 5.67 and 3.98, 2.88 and 0.21, 0.87 and 2.00, 2.99 and 2.27, 1.33 and 0.25, 0.05 and 1.00, 4.43 and 0.63 log cfu/g respectively. In the same order, at the samples of raw and cooked chicken tantuni were found to be; 4.35 and 3.77, 2.84 and 1.00, 1.15 and 2.00, 0.95 and 1.22, 2.00 and 2.00, 1.00 and 1.00, 4.05 and 0.11 log cfu/g respectively. Salmonella spp. could not be isolated in the tantuni samples that had been investigated. In the raw red meat tantuni samples 5.26% (1/19) had S. aureus, in the cooked red meat tantuni samples 1.66% (1/60) had S. aureus, and 3.33% (2/60) yeast-mould which were not compatible with the limit values that were stated at the Turkish Food Codex were found. However, values obtained from this study show that during preparation and production of the goods and in the other stages; hygienic rules have not been carried out.In conclusion to secure the product safety, it is essential to be cautious for the temperature and time during preparation, reservation temperature and GMP/GHP based applications in the preparation of tantuni.

Trypanosoma evansi is enzootic in camels in Egypt, and water buffaloes act as a reservoir for camel infection. Molecular techniques have contributed towards understanding the epidemiology of T. evansi. Trypanosoma evansi was detected in acute and chronic stages of the disease in male and female mice by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using two primers. Two experiments were conducted. In experiment I, two groups consisting of 26 female and 26 male mice received 104 trypanosome by I/P inoculation for each mouse. In experiment II, 42 female and 42 male mice were inoculated I/P with 102 trypanosome/mouse. In addition, five mice were kept as uninfected control for each group. Mice were monitored daily for parasitaemia level during the pre-patent period using the micro-haematocrit centrifugation technique (MHCT) and conventional PCR. The primer pairs, (Trypanosoma brucei) TBR1/2 and TeRoTat1.2 (T. evansi Rode Trypanozoon antigen type [RoTat] 1.2), detected the infection after 24 hours earlier than MHCT in both experiments. The course of infection that was detected by MHCT revealed three waves of parasitaemia in female mice and two waves in male mice in the chronic stage of infection. In addition, PCR was able to detect T. evansi in different organs in the chronic stage (i.e. disappearance of parasite from blood). Application of the two primer sets on blood samples from camels showed that all samples were positive by TBR1/2 primers and only 32 of 44 were positive by TeRoTat1.2 primers. Acutely and chronically Trypanosoma-infected mice were detected by PCR in blood and organs. TBR1/2 primers were more sensitive than TeRoTat1.2 primers in detecting Trypanosoma-infected mice, and more reliable in detecting field-infected camels and excluding carrier animals.

Clinical indicators such as diarrhoea (DISCO) or anaemia (FAMACHA©) are used as a measure for targeted selective treatments against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN). Enteric cestodes such as Moniezia may interfere directly with DISCO or indirectly with the FAMACHA© score. We investigated 821 Ouled Djellal rams naturally infected in a steppe environment (GIN alone, cestodes alone, GIN and cestodes) or not. The rams were treated with ivermectin 2 months before being slaughtered to reduce the impact of nematodes on the clinical scores; however, persistent or newly acquired GINs were not related to both scores. Of the non-infected rams (n = 296), 26% identified as needing treatment against GIN using the FAMACHA score, and 34.5% using DISCO would have been thus selected. This implies that the clinical indicators used for the targeted selective treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes are not fully reliable when a low infection is recorded and may well be influenced by confounding factors. As expected, only DISCO was affected by cestode infection, and we suggest that the presence of Moniezia should also be taken into consideration.

Shrubs represent the most affordable and accessible form of feed that livestock can rely on to acquire both essential and non-essential elements of life. In addition to their inherent toxins, they contain endogenous substances commonly referred to as ‘antinutritive factors’ (ANFs) that often interfere with the utilisation of nutrients. Their abundance may lead to severe clinical trauma. Hence, the objective of the study was to investigate the effects of different extraction techniques on Nerium oleander L. and animal feeds as well as to quantify oxalates. Organic (hexane, acetone and methanol) sequential and aqueous (infusion and decoction) extractions were explored. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted to determine the presence of various phytochemicals and oxalate contents as putative ANFs, respectively. The results showed higher extraction yields of 22.6% and 43.1% in the decoction and infusion of N. oleander, respectively. The quantification methods were validated for linearity, accuracy and precision. Oxalate contents of 6.76 ± 0.245 (0.65%) mg/g and 5.74 ± 0.236 mg/g dry weight (0.55%) were obtained in N. oleander and feeds, respectively. This difference was statistically significant with p < 0.05. Percentage recoveries of 98.5 (percent relative standard deviation [% RSD] = 2.3), 85.7 (% RSD = 1.03) and 80.3 (% RSD = 1.22) at 76%, 95% and 112% fortifications were obtained, respectively. Relative standard deviation for precision was 0.99% and 1.13% at 0.33 mg and 0.39 mg fortifications, respectively, while reproducibility showed 2.21% RSD. Therefore, these methods can be used to provide a valuable basis for qualitative determination of ANFs, particularly in shrub foliage.

No abstract available.

This epidemiological study aimed to determine the species of tick infestation in dogs, their prevalence and dynamic in the Bejaia province, northeastern Algeria. A total of 631 dogs were examined from different localities of the Bejaia province between March 2016 and February 2017. Of the 631 examined dogs, 15% were infested with one or more tick species. A total of 339 adult ticks were collected and identified, including 199 male tick species and 140 female tick species. Our results revealed that most of these were Rhipicephalus species, with Rhipicephalus sanguineus (51.32%) being the most prevalent followed by Rhipicephalus bursa (35.1%) and Rhipicephalus turanicus (12.98%). Ixodes ricinus represented only 0.6% of all ticks collected. The highest infested seasons were spring (22.55%) and summer (22.54%) and the lowest infested seasons were autumn (8.62%) and winter ( 0.9%). There is no significant difference between the sex of the animal and the prevalence of infestation (p = 0.837). Also, the prevalence of infestation by ticks in young animals was higher than that in adult animals (p = 0.550). A significant difference between the prevalence of infestation and animal breed was observed (p = 0.042). This study is the first epidemiological investigation conducted on the prevalence of hard ticks infesting domestic dogs in Bejaia (northeastern Algeria) based on conventional methods. It is therefore necessary to implement an effective tick control strategy during infestation periods in order to prevent vector-borne diseases.

Vaccination of domestic ruminants is considered to be an effective strategy for protecting these animals against Rift Valley fever (RVF), but available vaccines have limitations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the safety and immunogenicity of RVF virus (RVFV) mutagenesis passage 12 (MP-12) and arMP-12ΔNSm21/384 vaccine candidates in goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) in Tanzania. Goats were vaccinated intramuscularly with RVFV MP-12 or arMP-12ΔNSm21/384, and then on Day 87 post-vaccination (PV) all animals were revaccinated using the RVFV MP-12 vaccine candidate. Serum samples were collected from the animals before and after vaccination at various intervals to test for RVFV using a Vero cell culture assay and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and for RVFV-neutralising antibody using a plaque reduction neutralisation assay. Serum samples collected before vaccination on Days -14 and 0, and on Days 3, 4 and 5 PV were negative for RVFV and neutralising antibody. All animals remained healthy, and viremia was not detected in any of the animals. Rift Valley fever virus antibody was first detected on Day 5 PV at a 1:10 dilution in five of five animals vaccinated with the MP-12 vaccine and in five of eight animals vaccinated with arMP-12ΔNSm21/384. Titres then increased and were sustained at 1:40 to 1:640 through to Day 87 PV. All animals that were revaccinated on Day 87 PV with MP-12 developed antibody titres ranging from 1:160 to as high as 1:10 240 on Days 14 and 21 PV. Although the antibody titres for goats vaccinated with RVF MP-12 were slightly higher than titres elicited by the arMP-12ΔNSm21/384 vaccine, these findings demonstrated that both vaccines are promising candidates for the prevention of RVF among Tansanian goats.

The present study aimed to determine the effect of adding plant oils; extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), sunflower and soybean to animal feed on serum estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) levels, histological structure of ovaries and in vitro maturation of oocytes (IVM). A total of 60 mature female Albino rats were used. Animals were divided equally into 5 groups; control group (received standard diet), group II (received EVOO), group III (received sunflower oil), group IV (received soybean oil) and group VI (received oil mixture which consist of sunflower and soybean oils). After 6 weeks of feeding oil addited diet, blood samples were collected from all rats throughout the different stages of estrous cycle. Sera were used for determination of serum E2 and P4 levels. Only females that were not in estrus were scarified after the last blood sample collection, ovaries were harvested for histopathological examination and for in vitro maturation. Results showed that none of oils led to ovarian changes except soybean oil and oil mixture, cause congestion of some ovarian blood vessels. It was also noted that the hormonal pattern didn’t differ significantly among different treatments within the same stage of the cycle, except for the group received oil mixture where E2 and P4 levels decreased significantly (P < 0.05) during metestrus and diestrus phases, respectively. In the treated groups, the highest significant (P < 0.05) oocyte recovery rate (RR) (5.43 ± 0.23% and 4.41± 0.13%) and maturation rate (MR) (79.17 ± 2.03% and 73.43 ± 1.97%) were attained after application of EVOO followed by sunflower oil, respectively. While the lowest values were calculated with the soybean oil and oil mixture (3.83 ± 0.13 % and 2.50 ± 0.16 %) and (68.18 ± 2.29 % and 62.50 ± 2.23 %), respectively. It could be concluded that EVOO as well as sunflower oil have a beneficial influence on ovarian functional performance, retrieval of high number of good quality oocytes and raise oocyte maturation.

The classification and description of digenean trematodes are commonly accomplished by using morphological features, especially in adult stages. The aim of this study was to provide an analysis of the genetic composition of larval digenean trematodes using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted from clinostomatid metacercaria, 27-spined echinostomatid redia, avian schistosome cercaria and strigeid metacercaria from various dams in the proximity of Tshwane metropolitan, South Africa. Polymerase chain reaction was performed using the extracted DNA with primers targeting various regions within the larval digenean trematodes’ genomes. Agarose gel electrophoresis technique was used to visualise the PCR products. The PCR products were sequenced on an Applied Bioinformatics (ABI) genetic analyser platform. Genetic information obtained from this study had a higher degree of discrimination than the morphological characteristics of seemingly similar organisms.