Bluetongue (BT), a disease that affects mainly sheep, causes economic losses owing to not only its deleterious effects on animals but also its associated impact on the restriction of movement of livestock and livestock germplasm. The causative agent, bluetongue virus (BTV), can occur in the semen of rams and bulls at the time of peak viraemia and be transferred to a developing foetus. The risk of the transmission of BTV by bovine embryos is negligible if the embryos are washed according to the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) protocol. Two experiments were undertaken to determine whether this holds for ovine embryos that had been exposed to BTV. Firstly, the oestrus cycles of 12 ewes were synchronised and the 59 embryos that were obtained were exposed in vitro to BTV-2 and BTV-4 at a dilution of 1 x 102.88 and 1 x 103.5 respectively. In the second experiment, embryos were recovered from sheep at the peak of viraemia. A total of 96 embryos were collected from BTV-infected sheep 21 days after infection. In both experiments half the embryos were washed and treated with trypsin according to the IETS protocol while the remaining embryos were neither washed nor treated. All were tested for the presence of BTV using cell culture techniques. The virus was detected after three passages in BHK-21 cells only in one wash bath in the first experiment and two unwashed embryos exposed to BTV-4 at a titre of 1 x 103.5. No embryos or uterine flush fluids obtained from viraemic donors used in the second experiment were positive for BTV after the standard washing procedure had been followed. The washing procedure of the IETS protocol can thus clear sheep embryos infected with BTV either in vitro or in vivo.

The present work was performed to study the effect of chromium piclonate and ⁄ or ascorbic acid supplementation on the performance of growing kids during hot summer season (33.6oC and 74.2% RH). A total number of twenty four weaned commercial kids were randomly distributed into four treatment groups of 6 kids per each Kids in all treatments were equal in number and had nearly similar initial body weight. The first group was fed the basal diet and served as control (0.0 supplementation), while the other three groups were fed diets supplemented with 75 mg/kg diet chromium piclonate, 800 mg/ kg diet ascorbic acid and 75 mg / kg diet chromium piclonate + 800 mg ascorbic acid, respectively. The results obtained for growing Kids showed that the final live body weight and daily body gain were increased significantly (P < 0.05 or 0.01) during 210 and 270 daysfor Kids fed diets supplemented with chromium piclonate, ascorbic acid and chromium piclonate + ascorbic acid. However, the supplementation of chromium piclonate + ascorbic acid seemed to be the best significant performance. The results obtained for growing Kids showed that the daily feed intake, feed conversion, water ⁄ feed intake ratio, water ⁄ daily gain ratio were increased significantly (P < 0.05 or 0.01) during the experimental periods for Kids fed diets supplemented with chromium piclonate, ascorbic acid and chromium piclonate + ascorbic acid. The Results showed that water intake, rectum temperature and respiration rate were not significantly affected by previous treatments. The best margin was obtained in group fed on the diet supplemented with chromium piclonate + ascorbic acid. All carcass traits were increased insignificantly due to dietary chromium piclonate and ⁄or ascorbic acid supplementation. Serum total proteins were increased significantly (P < 0.05), in group three only while the cholesterol level and triglycerides decreased significantly (P<0.05) in Kids treated with chromium piclonate as compared with the control group under summer heat stress conditions. Serum albumin, globulin, urea-, creatinine, AST, WBCs, RBCs MCV, MCH and Hb content were insignificantly affected by chromium piclonate and ⁄or ascorbic acid supplementation to the kids’ diets. Finally, it could be concluded that supplementation of 75 mg chromium piclonate + 800 mg ascorbic acid / kg diet to the kid diets is necessary to improve the productivity, under the summer conditions

In veterinary practice drug delivery strategies are complicated by species diversity, body size variations, cost constraints and level of convenience. A new frontier in the administration of therapeutic drugs to veterinary species is transdermal drug delivery system. It implies topical drug application to achieve systemic pharmacological effects. Its efficacy is primarily dependent upon the barrier properties of the targeted species skin, as well as the ratio of the area of the patch to the species total body mass needed to achieve effective systemic drug concentrations. The candidate drug must have sufficient lipid solubility to be considered for transdermal delivery. The adhesive of the patches is critical to the safety, efficacy and quality of the product. This novel drug delivery system offers many advantages over conventional oral and invasive methods of drug delivery like reduction in hepatic first pass metabolism, enhancement of therapeutic efficiency, maintenance of steady plasma level of the drug and improved owner compliance. With efficient experimental designs and available transdermal patch technology, there are no obvious hurdles for the development of effective therapeutic agents in veterinary practice.

Protozoa species were identified in rumen contents of four domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from South Africa. All animals were fed a forage diet which consisted of 50% lucerne and 50% teff hay. Ten new host records were identified, bringing the total number of species and forms observed in sheep in South Africa to 30. The occurrence and geographic distribution of ciliate protozoa in both domestic and wild sheep from around the world are summarised. It was found that 15 genera and 131 species occur in domestic sheep globally.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of Eugenia jambolana and Trigonella foenum graecum in abino rats. Animals were classified into seven groups; T1 served as vehicle control, which received 0.1 ml gum acacia, while T2 received acetylsalicylic acid at 150 mg/kg orally. The ethanolic extract of E. jambolana in gum acacia was administered orally in groups T3 and T4 at 100 and 200 mg/kg orally respectively. Aqueous extract of T. f. graecum in gum acacia was administered orally at a dose rate of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg to T5, T6 and T7 respectively. Paw oedema was induced by injecting 0.1 ml of 1% (w/v) carrageenan sub-cutaneously (s/c). The percentage inhibition of oedema in T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 and T7 were observed to be 62, 43, 64, 57, 58 and 62 percent respectively. The results of the present study revealed that the treatment groups showed a significant reduction in paw volume in a dose dependent manner indicating their anti-inflammatory action, which had provided a proof for the scientific validation of their ethno pharmacological property.

The dairy industry is a large and important business in Saudi Arabia. Although farms are administered to high international standards, some reproduction problems, of uncertain aetiology, are encountered. The most frequently seen are conception failures, abortions, stillbirths and the birth of weak or malformed calves. These conditions are suggestive of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) infection. Unfortunately, very little published information is available regarding the impact of this disease on cattle populations in Saudi Arabia. As a consequence, the present study was carried out and is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. The aim of the study was to elucidate the role of in utero BVDV infection leading to the birth of weak or malformed calves on a large dairy farm in Saudi Arabia. The study was divided into two parts. Firstly, apparently healthy neonatal calves were sampled for the detection of pre-colostral serum antibodies to BVDV. The presence of these antibodies indicates exposure of the foetus to BVDV during the last two trimesters of gestation. Secondly, tissue samples from malformed neonatal calves were examined for the presence of BVDV antigens. Detection of such antigens confirms exposure of the foetus to the virus during the first trimester of gestation. The results of the investigation indicated that 36.1% of the neonatal calves were exposed to BVDV infection in utero. This is higher than what has been reported in the literature and suggests that dairy farmers in the Arabian Peninsula need to be made aware of the dangers of BVDV infections in their herds. The epidemiological significance of the results is discussed.

Despite its important role as vector for African horse sickness virus (AHSV), very little information is available on the dissemination of this virus in Culicoides (Avaritia) imicola Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). This study reports on the applicability of a real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to detect AHSV in dissected midges. A total of 96 midges were fed on AHSV-infected blood, after which one test group was dissected into head/thorax and abdomen segments immediately after feeding and the other only after 10 days of incubation. The majority of the midges (96%) ingested the virus successfully and there was no significant difference between the virus concentration in the heads/thoraxes and the abdomens immediately after feeding. After incubation, virus was detected in 51% of the midges and it was confined to the abdomen in the majority of these. The fact that virus was detected only in the heads/thoraxes of four Culicoides midges after incubation suggests the presence of a mesenteronal escape barrier. Replication in the salivary glands was not shown. An increase of the mean virus concentration in the abdomen after incubation indicates localised viral replication. The real-time RT-qPCR is recommended for further studies investigating the replication and dissemination of AHSV in Culicoides midges.

Gut health is an important facet of well being of pet animals; it is in this context, various nutritional and biotechnological approaches have been proposed to manipulate the gut health by specifically targeting the colonic microbiota. Nutritional approaches include supplementation of antioxidants and phytochemicals like flavonoids, isoflavonoids and carotenoids. Biotechnological approaches include supplementation of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics in the diet and potential application of molecular tools like fluorescent in situ hybridization, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, quantitative dot blot hybridization, and restriction fragment length polymorphism etc. in studying the fecal microbiota composition. Post-genomic and related technologies, i.e. genomics, nutrigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and epigenomics in the study of gastrointestinal tract also put forward challenges for nutritionists and microbiologists to elucidate the complex interactions between gut microbiota and host.

A study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of fosfomycin in controlling streptococcosis in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of fosfomycin against multiple S. iniae isolates showed a sensitivity range of 12.5- 25 'g/mL. The fosfomycin dose levels tested were 40, 60, and 80 mg of active ingredient per kilogram fish per day. Administrationof medicated feed started one day after infection by immersion exposure to S. iniae and continued for eight days. Survival rates of fosfomycin treated groups were 90, 100 and 96.6% with an average survival of 95. 53 %. On contrary, survival rates of infected non treated groups were 3.3%. All survivors and negative control groups showed no clinical signs, no gross pathology together with negative S. iniae re-isolation.

In the present study, a total of 224 camels infested with Hyalomma dromedarii ticks were investigated for the presence of Theileria camelensis infection in Upper Egypt. The role of Hyalomma dromedarii ticks as the vector of this parasite was also investigated by haemolymph smear examination. Results revealed that 15 (6.75%) of 224 camels were harboring Theileria camelensis in erythrocytes. Furthermore, the theilerial schizont was also seen in lymphocytes. These 15 camels did not show any abnormal clinical signs except three cases that showed enlargement of superficial lymph node and fever. Examination of ticks showed various developmental stages of different shapes and forms of Theileria species.