Cryptosporidium infection is one of the most common causes of parasitic diarrhoea worldwide in cattle and humans. In developing countries, human cryptosporidiosis is most prevalent during early childhood and links between zoonotic infection and animal related activities have been demonstrated. This study investigated the prevalence and species/genotype distribution of Cryptosporidium among children (< 5 years) and calves (< 6 months) living in a rural farming area adjacent to the Kruger National Park in South Africa, where interactions between humans and wild and domestic animals are known to occur. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 8/143 stool samples of children recruited within the hospital system (5.6%; 95% CI 2.4%, 10.7%) and in 2/352 faecal samples of calves (0.6%; 95% CI 0.1%, 2.0%) using the modified Ziehl–Neelsen (MZN) staining technique. Microscopy positive samples from children were further analysed by PCR targeting the 18S rRNA gene and identified as Cryptosporidium hominis (3/4) and Cryptosporidium meleagridis (1/4). Regardless of the microscopy outcome, randomly selected samples (n = 36) from calves 0–4 months of age were amplified and sequenced at the 18S rRNA gene using nested PCR. Two calves tested positive (5.6%; 95% CI 1.7%, 18.7%), and revealed the presence of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium bovis. The detection of only two zoonotic species (C. parvum in one calf and C. meleagridis in one child) suggests that zoonotic cryptosporidiosis is not currently widespread in our study area; however, the potential exists for amplification of transmission in an immunocompromised population. Keywords: Cryptosporidium; children; calves; South Africa; genotyping; GP60 subtyping

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is one of the most important threats to cattle health and production in Ethiopia. At the livestock farm of the Bako Agricultural Research Center, an outbreak of respiratory disease of cattle occurred in May 2011, and many animals were affected and died before the disease was diagnosed. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the seroprevalence of CBPP antibodies in selected districts of Western Oromia Region and to assess the potential risk factors for the occurrence of the disease. A crosssectional study was conducted from November 2013 to March 2014 in three selected districts of Western Oromia Region. A total of 386 sera were examined for the presence of specific antibodies against Mycoplasma mycoidesmycoides small colony (MmmSC), using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The risk factors that were evaluated in this study were geographical location, age, sex, breed and body condition. The overall seroprevalence in this study was 28.5%. The seroprevalence of Mycoplasma mycoidesmycoides small colony antibodies at the district level was 40.3%, 19.0% and 5.7% in Gobbu Sayyo, BakoTibbe and Horro districts, respectively. There was a statistically significant variation ( p < 0.05) in the prevalence of antibodies amongst the districts. However, animal-related risk factors, such as age, sex, breed and body condition, were not significantly associated ( p > 0.05) with the serological status of the animal. This study showed that the overall prevalence of CBPP in Western Oromia Zones was high. This warrants the implementation of appropriate preventive and control measures to minimise the economic losses associated with the disease. Keywords: Seroprevalence, CBPP, risk factors, c-ELISA, Western Oromia Zones, Ethiopia

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis vaccine was prepared from a local field isolate. Vaccination of sheep with 50g PLD toxoid and 10 mg bacterin adjuvanted with Montanide oil improved the levels of immune responses of sheep. In many countries, inactivated C. pseudotuberculosis adjuvant vaccines have been used for prevention and control of caseous lymphadenitis in sheep. However, the efficacy was variable. The aim of the present study was directed to prepare and evaluate the potency of an inactivated C. pseudotuberculosis vaccine using Montanide ISA206. Sheep were vaccinated with 1st dose of 2ml containing 10 mg bacterin and 50g toxoid and Montanide ISA 206 oil adjuvant and boostered with the same dose 15 days Apart. Evaluation of post vaccinal cellular immune response with lymphocyte proliferation assay and humoral immune response using ELISA was carried out. Cell mediated immune response of vaccinated sheep reached its peak 0.445 by 1st week post the second vaccination. The level of humoral immune response showed optical density of 1.005 by 1st week post the second vaccination. Challenge test was done in all sheep four weeks after the second dose of vaccination. Three sheep from vaccinated and three sheep from non-vaccinated groups were slaughtered and necropsied 150 days post challenge. The results revealed 75% protection percentage against challenge while unvaccinated challenged sheep showed 9% protection. Statistical analysis indicated that the vaccine assessed a significant level of cellular and humoral immunity.

A total of 120 fish samples were collected from different water sources in El Fayoum Governorate, (Bahr El Banat agricultural drainage, different fish farms and Al Rayaan Lake). and represented by Clarias gariepinus from Bahr El Banat agricultural drainage, different fish farms (15 each), Mugil cephalus from different fish farms and Al Rayaan Lake (15 each), Solea solea (30 samples) and Oreochromis niloticus from Bahr El Banat agricultural drainage, different fish farms and Al Rayaan Lake (10 each). Fourteen organochlorine compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography. Fish samples from Bahr El Banat revealed the highest mean levels of p,p'-DDD, endrin, endosulfan, γ-chlordane, heptachlor and γ-HCH, while fish samples from Al Rayaan Lake have shown the highest mean level of methoxychlor, p,p'-DDT, p,p'- DDE, dieldrin, heptachlor epoxide, δ-HCH and α-HCH. Most of the examined fish samples from different species, are within the maximum residue limits and should not pose a health risk to consumers. The public health hazards were discussed as well as recommendations were done.

Secreted proteins are reported to induce cell-mediated immunity characterised by the production of interferon-gamma (IFN)-γ. In this study three open reading frames (ORFs) (Erum8060, Erum7760, Erum5000) encoding secreted proteins were selected from the Ehrlichia ruminantium (Welgevonden) genome sequence using bioinformatics tools to determine whether they induce a cellular immune response in vitro with mononuclear cells from needle and tick infected animals. The whole recombinant protein of the three ORFs as well as four adjacent fragments of the Erum5000 protein (Erum5000A, Erum5000B, Erum5000C, Erum5000D) were successfully expressed in a bacterial expression system which was confirmed by immunoblots using anti-His antibodies and sheep sera. These recombinant proteins were assayed with immune sheep and cattle peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), spleen and lymph node (LN) cells to determine whether they induce recall cellular immune responses in vitro. Significant proliferative responses and IFN-γ production were evident for all recombinant proteins, especially Erum5000A, in both ruminant species tested. Thus overlapping peptides spanning Erum5000A were synthesised and peptides that induce proliferation of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and production of IFN-γ were identified. These results illustrate that a Th1 type immune response was elicited and these recombinant proteins and peptides may therefore be promising candidates for development of a heartwater vaccine.

The pharmacokinetic aspects of tulathromycin (2.5 mg/kg b.w.) were studied following intravenous administration alone and in combination with flunixin meglumine (2.2 mg/kg b.w) in apparently healthy goats. Tulathromycin concentrations in serum were determined by microbiological assay technique using Bacillus subtiles (ATCC 66343) as test organism. The half-lives of distribution and elimination (t0.5(a)and to.5(p)) were 0.071, 0.046 and 6.43, and 5.05 h. following intravenous injection of tulathromycin alone and in combination with flunixin, respectively. Volume of distribution at steady state (Vdss) was 0.249 and 0.96l/kg., mean residence time (MRT) was 6.27 and 5.99 h and total body clearance (ClB) was 0.046 and 0.17 l/kg/hr., respectively. It was concluded that flunixin significantly altered the pharmacokinetics of tulathromycin by increase its distribution and accelerate its elimination from body. Therefore care should be taken during use of tulathromycin in goats concurrently with flunixin.

The present study was carried out on 22 cows suffering from ruminal impaction with plastic materials as foreign bodies and ten apparently healthy cows as a control group. Clinical examination included clinical signs, temperature, pulse, respiratory rate and ruminal motility were recorded prior to treatment. Hematological parameters such as hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), erythrocyte count (RBCs), total leucocytes (WBCs) count and the glutaraldehyde test were performed. Ruminal fluid was evaluated for pH and the methylene blue reduction time (MBRT). The mean pH of rumen fluid, MBRT, total leucocytes count, and PCV were increased significantly (P<0.05). Rumen motility was significantly reduced (P<0.05) preoperative in the animals suffering from rumen impaction, but the mean value of pulse rate, respiration rate, temperature, glutaraldehyde test, haemoglobin and total erythrocyte count were non-significantly changed. On the 5th postoperative day the clinical and the laboratory parameters in the study group had largely become normalized. Six months after the procedure, 18 (81.9%) cows showed complete recovery and 4 (18.9%) animals were slaughtered within 3 months following surgery. This study concluded that the clinical and laboratory findings might be of diagnostic importance. Rumen impaction with plastic materials should be differentiated from anorexia, emaciation, ruminal hypomotility, tympany and dehydration in cows. The surgical removal of foreign body demonstrated positive effects on animal health.

African swine fever (ASF) has been reported in South Africa since the early 20th century. The disease has been controlled and confined to northern South Africa over the past 80 years by means of a well-defined boundary line, with strict control measures and movement restrictions north of this line. In 2012, the first outbreak of ASF outside the ASF control zone since 1996 occurred. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current relevance of the ASF control line as a demarcation line between endemic ASF (north) areas and ASF-free (south) area and to determine whether there was a need to realign its trajectory, given the recent outbreaks of ASF, global climate changes and urban development since the line’s inception. A study of ASF determinants was conducted in an area 20 km north and 20 km south of the ASF control line, in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng provinces between May 2008 and September 2012. The study confirmed that warthogs, warthog burrows and the soft tick reservoir, Ornithodoros moubata, are present south of the ASF control line, but no virus or viral DNA was detected in these ticks. There appears to be an increasing trend in the diurnal maximum temperature and a decrease in humidity along the line, but the impact of these changes is uncertain. No discernible changes in minimum temperatures and average rainfall along the disease control line were observed between 1992 and 2014. Even though the reservoirs were found south of the ASF boundary line, the study concluded that there was no need to realign the trajectory of the ASF disease control line, with the exception of Limpopo Province. However, the provincial surveillance programmes for the reservoir, vector and ASF virus south of this line needs to be maintained and intensified as changing farming practices may favour the spread of ASF virus beyond the control line. Keywords: African swine fever; warthog burrow; Ornithodoros moubata;control line

This study was conducted to determine the efficiency of different tsetse traps in 28 sites across Tanzania. The traps used were biconical, H, NGU, NZI, pyramidal, S3, mobile, and sticky panels. Stationary traps were deployed at a distance of 200 m apart and examined 72 h after deployment. The results showed that 117 (52.2%) out of the 224 traps deployed captured at least one Glossina species. A total of five Glossina species were captured, namely Glossina brevipalpis, Glossina pallidipes, Glossina swynnertoni, Glossina morsitans, and Glossina fuscipes martinii. Biconical traps caught tsetse flies in 27 sites, pyramidal in 26, sticky panel in 20, mobile in 19, S3 in 15, NGU in 7, H in 2 and NZI in 1. A total of 21 107 tsetse flies were trapped, with the most abundant species being G. swynnertoni (55.9%), followed by G. pallidipes (31.1%), G. fuscipes martinii (6.9%) and G. morsitans (6.0%). The least caught was G. brevipalpis (0.2%). The highest number of flies were caught by NGU traps (32.5%), followed by sticky panel (16%), mobile (15.4%), pyramidal (13.0%), biconical (11.3%) and S3 (10.2%). NZI traps managed to catch 0.9% of the total flies and H traps 0.7%. From this study, it can be concluded that the most efficient trap was NGU, followed by sticky panel and mobile, in that order. Therefore, for tsetse fly control programmes, NGU traps could be the better choice. Conversely, of the stationary traps, pyramidal and biconical traps captured tsetse flies in the majority of sites, covering all three ecosystems better than any other traps; therefore, they would be suitable for scouting for tsetse infestation in any given area, thus sparing the costs of making traps for each specific Glossina species. Keywords: tseste; traps; densties; Glossina; mobile; stationary; Tanzania

In early 2015, a highly fatal haemorrhagic disease of domestic pigs resembling African swine fever (ASF) occurred in North Western, Copperbelt, and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. Molecular diagnosis by polymerase chain reaction targeting specific amplification of p72 (B646L) gene of ASF virus (ASFV) was conducted. Fourteen out of 16 domestic pigs from the affected provinces were found to be positive for ASFV. Phylogenetic analyses based on part of the p72 and the complete p54 (E183L) genes revealed that all the ASFVs detected belonged to genotypes I and Id, respectively. Additionally, epidemiological data suggest that the same ASFV spread from Lusaka to other provinces possibly through uncontrolled and/or illegal pig movements. Although the origin of the ASFV that caused outbreaks in domestic pigs in Zambia could not be ascertained, it appears likely that the virus may have emerged from within the country or region, probably from a sylvatic cycle. It is recommended that surveillance of ASF, strict biosecurity, and quarantine measures be imposed in order to prevent further spread and emergence of new ASF outbreaks in Zambia. Keywords: African swine fever; Asfarviridae; Molecular epidemiology; Zambia