Veterinary Science & Technology

Peste des petits Ruminants (PPR) is an OIE – listed transboundary disease that was first recorded in Nepal in 1995. It has spread in all eco-zones of Nepal and has a high economic impact threatening food security, production, and livelihood of the farmers. Many regions of Nepal are stated as endemic areas for the PPR disease mainly border areas that are prone to uncontrolled animal movements from the neighboring countries. Occasional outbreaks are generally recorded from this area in sporadic trends. In February 2020, an outbreak of PPR occurred in an unvaccinated goat farm located in Biratnagar, Morang, Nepal which is a border district and endemic region for PPR in Nepal. Out of 45, 27(60%) of the goats were affected by the disease showing clinical signs of coughing, necrotic stomatitis, severe diarrhea, and nasal and ocular discharges. The postmortem examination revealed lesions in the lungs, mesenteric lymph nodes, and intestine. The diagnosis was done based on history, findings of clinical manifestation and post-mortem examination, and rapid diagnostic tests. Following infection, necessary treatment and management approaches were implemented. The present study attempts to provide a detailed case study of an outbreak of PPR with a clear history, clinical and laboratory findings, diagnosis, treatment, and management measures implemented following a PPR outbreak.

Background: The study was conducted to assess chicken production and marketing systems. Fifty respondents were randomly selected from three purposively selected kebeles based production potential. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 20.

Results: Among the respondents, 82.78% were male. The age of (53.41%) respondents was between 30-60 years. Most of the respondents (43.88%) can read and write while 25.39% were illiterate. Backyard systems of chicken production were predominantly (69.47%) practiced. Dual purpose Sasso-44 breeds were abundantly reared. The respondents obtained (59.06%) of improved breeds from government hatchers. The overall chicken flock size was 17.6 ± 1.26 per respondents. Scavenging with supplement was the dominant (68.56%) chicken feeding practices, (14.73%) of the respondents used homemade meals, and only (3.93%) of the respondents used purchased commercial feed. Respondents replied that (31.87%) of them kept chicken in separate houses, (32.33%) provided shelter only during the night, and 21.87% shared the same place with residents. The marketing access for chic inputs like feed and drugs were low. The demand for chicken and chicken product was high. Majority of the respondents (74.25%) sold and bought chicken products from local markets. The cost of chickens vary based on breeds, size, age, and sex of the chickens hence (80.65-251.4 ETB for improved layers and 72.9-215.57ETB) for local hens.

Conclusion: Generally, coordinated work with all concerned bodies should be manipulated to update chicken production systems, and to enhance productivity.

Fasciolosis also called liver flukes is a highly pathogenic parasitic disease of humans and the livestock caused by flatworms of the genus Fasciola. Its pathology and pathogenicity is more of in liver organ and results in tissue destruction, inflammation, local or systemic toxic/allergic reactions, internal bleeding and it leads to secondary bacterial complications. A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2019 to June 2020 to assess a clinico-pathological study, lesion characterization, and financial loss due to fasciolosis and hepatic necrobacillosis in cattle slaughtered at three municipal abattoirs of central Ethiopia. Sixty cattle were selected using systematic random sampling for this study, from which blood and liver tissue of the same animals were collected before and after slaughter. Tissue sampling for bacterial culture and histopathology were collected from the infected liver. Post-mortem inspection results, 41.6% (25/60) gross pathologic lesions, of these, 20% (12/60) were mixed infection of liver fluke and Fusobacterium necrophorum while 8% (5/60) and 13.3% (8/60) of the infections were due to Fusobacterium necrophorum and liver flukes alone. The histopathologic results indicated heavy infiltration of inflammatory cells, biliary cirrhosis, extensive fibrous connective tissue proliferation in the hepatic capsule, and periportal infiltration of inflammatory cells. The hematological results indicated that PCV, Hb, and RBC’s were lower in the infected cattle while, the WBC’s were higher. The biochemical analysis of blood samples showed that the liver enzymes AST, ALT, and ALP were significantly higher in animals with hepatocyte degeneration. The calculated financial losses due to liver condemnation by fascioliasis and hepatic necrobascillosis were 1,747,200 ETB/($56361.3) annually. The study concluded that the liver flukes and infections due to Fusobacterium necrophorum are the major problems of cattle slaughtered at the selected abattoirs of the study areas. Thus, corrective measures and further investigations are recommended to lessen economic loss from fasciollosis caused liver condemnation.

A 6 months old pug puppy breed was brought with poor general health condition, alopecia, crusted lesions, pruritis, skin scales and moist skin folds. Based on clinical and laboratory examinations it was diagnosed as mixed infection of malasseziosis, demodicosis and pyoderma and treated with oral ivermectin, ketoconazole, and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and atarax tablets and along with these, used amitraz, kiskin and imidectin spot on as topical applications with ketochlor shampoo and supportive medications. After 60 days of treatment, the animal was perfectly normal i.e., two successive deep skin scraping examinations yielded no mites, and no yeasts on staining examination, and no microbial growth on culture media, considered complete recovery from malasseziosis, demodicosis and pyoderma.

Introduction: There is a worldwide bee colony collapse, a syndrome characterized mainly by the disappearance of worker bees. It is caused by parasites such as those belonging to the genus Varroa- vector of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) and other pathogens that affect bees, such as Nosema ceranae. The objective of this research was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new mixture of substances administered as feed to bees called p20, with the purpose of increasing the survival of bees affected by DWV and Nosema spp and to verify how p20 affected the presence of these pathogens in the hives.

Materials and methods: A prospective descriptive longitudinal observational study of bees with deformed wing virus and Nosema spp in hives in Garraf, Barcelona, Spain from July 2022 to July 2023 was carried out.

The research was carried out on A. mellifera species, aged between 20 and 40 days of life, of female sex, in the subspecies Iberiensis, with physiological state of adult foragers, in 20 bees per hive, examining a total of 200 bees, 20 per group. Solution p20 was administered as feed, which is a mixture of sugars with syrup of glycosylated sugars and 4.6% oxalic acid in 325 cc bags per hive. Three cycles of one bag per week were administered and consumed by the hives.

Results: Our findings suggest that hives with Nosema and deformed wings that were treated with a blend of oxalic acid in activated glycolytic solution called p20 showed an improvement in survival rate and a significant decrease in the presence of Nosema and deformed wings compared to previous winter seasons when we did not apply the substance under study. The efficacy of the p20 solution against Nosema spp. for four (4) weeks with three (3) treatments was 90.4% in total and stopped completely the new hatchings of bees with deformed wings by 100%.

Canine allergic dermatitis is a common and challenging condition affecting dogs worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the gut microbiota composition in dogs with allergic dermatitis and explore its potential implications for the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Fecal samples were collected from a cohort of dogs diagnosed with allergic dermatitis and healthy controls. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was employed to analyze the gut microbial communities. Our findings revealed significant alterations in the gut microbiota diversity and composition in dogs with allergic dermatitis compared to healthy controls. Specific bacterial taxa were found to be either enriched or depleted in the diseased group. Moreover, correlation analysis indicated potential associations between certain microbial taxa and clinical parameters of dermatitis severity. These findings suggest a complex interplay between gut microbiota and allergic dermatitis and pave the way for innovative therapeutic interventions targeting the gut-skin axis.

Dog bites are a serious and often underestimated public health problem and associated with physical and psychological trauma, they cause wound infection by different microorganisms and the risk of rabies transmission. Tens of thousands of people in developing nations die of rabies each year, and tragically dogs are the vectors in over 98 percent of human rabies cases. Ethiopia has a high dog population and is estimated to have the second largest number of rabies deaths of all African countries. One of the strategies of rabies control and prevention is mass dog vaccination campaign. For successful implementation of vaccination campaign and to reduce the risk of dog bite, using effective dog restraint tool is crucial. For this purpose, we developed dog restraining technology package which contains three tools namely dog muzzle mask, dog catching net and dog restraining crush. These dog restraint tools are easy to use or apply on dogs, safe for vet practitioner and animal owners. They are also cost effective, very easy to maintain, can be made from easily accessible locally available materials. After developing the technology package, it was tested in different veterinary clinics and on field and it works perfectly. The stakeholders were also trained on how to prepare and use the technology. After the training, we hand over one technology package for each Gondar administrative zone that can be used as a model, and facilitate the dissemination, implementation and sustainability of the technology. The stakeholders who have taken the training and used the technology reported that situation of working with dogs was easy after the training: doing clinical examination, taking vital signs, giving interventions (drug, vaccine) and undertaking surgical procedures on dogs. They also reported that the decrement of dog bite and improvement of welfare of dogs after the technology transfer.