Prevalence ofToxoplasma antibodies in sheep and goats in the area of Hissar,Haryana, India

Summary An endeavour was made to assess the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in sheep and goats in Hissar using the indirect haemagglutination test. The incidence in sheep was 6·6 per cent and in goats 11·5 per cent and was higher in the female than in the male in both species.

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Sumario Se ha intentado evaluar la prevalencia de infecciones a Toxoplasma en ovinos y caprinos en Hissar mediante el uso de la prueba indirecta de hemaglutinacion. La incidencia en ovinos fue de 6.6 por ciento y en caprinos de 11.5 por ciento y era mas alta en las hembras que en los machos en ambas especies.

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Résumé Dans une tentative pour établir la prévalence de l'infection à toxoplasmes chez le mouton et la chèvre dans la région de Hissar, on a utilisé l'épreuve d'hémagglutination indirecte. Chez le mouton, l'incidence a été de 6, 6 p. 100 et de 11, 5 p. 100 chez la shévre, toujours plus élevée chez les femelles que chez les males dans les deux espèces.

     

The use of spleen antigen in the tube agglutination test for diagnosis of anaplasmosis in cattle

An antigen was prepared from the spleen of an infected bovine calf and was used in the tube agglutination test. Cases having rare and very low parasitaemia as well as the carrier cases were detected by this procedure and no non-specific reaction was observed with other haemoprotozoan infections. The maximum titre obtained with the Anplasma positive sera was 1:20, about 60 per cent showed a titre of 1:10 and 90 per cent showed a titre of 1:5 or more. The test provided satisfactory results in detecting the cases even at the early phase of the infection. The test also proved useful in judging the efficacy of a drug employed to destroy the carrier status.     

Comparative efficacy of diminazene diaceturate and imidocarb dipropionate against Babesia equi infection in donkeys

Diminazene diaceturate (Berenil, Hoechst) at 12 mg/kg intramuscularly (i/m) and repeated after 24 hours controlled the rising parasitaemia of Babesia equi infection in four out of five splenectomised donkeys. The drug was more effective in the early stages of the disease and had a prophylactic effect for at least 30–35 days.A new babesicide, imidocarb (Imizol, Burroughs Wellcome), was 100% effective in three splenectomised donkeys at 5 mg/kg, i/m and repeated after 48 hours. However, imidocarb at 5 or 2 mg/kg i/m with a single injection was only partially effective or ineffective.     

Specific identification of Pasteurella multocida serogroup-A isolates by PCR assay

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the hyaC-hyaD gene was developed and used to identify strains of Pasteurella multocida belonging to serogroup-A. A set of serogroup-specific-PCR primers amplified a 564 bp product from genomic DNA prepared from bacterial cells or directly from bacterial colonies. This method detected as low as 10 ng of bacterial DNA and had a specificity of 100% for P. multocida serogroup-A. A nested PCR method yielded a single 374 bp product. All fifty isolates were also shown to be identical by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the PCR products after digestion with BglII.     

Identification of avian strains of Pasteurella multocida in India by conventional and PCR assays

The prevalence of capsular and somatic serotypes were studied among 123 Pasteurella multocida strains isolated from chickens (n = 94), ducks (22), quails (4), turkeys (2) and geese (1) from different geographical regions of India. All strains exhibited similar cultural and morphological characteristics. Ninety-two of the isolates belonged to serotype A:1, the most prevalent serotype, with serotypes A:3, A:1,3, D:3 and F:3 having two isolates each. Only one isolate was positive for serotypes A:4 and D:1. Twenty isolates were untyped. A multiplex capsular PCR assay generated amplicons of sizes 460, 1044, 657 and 854 bp in 106 isolates identified as capsular serotype-A, 15 in serotype D and two in serotype F. Capsular types B and E were not detected in any of the avian isolates studied. The present findings suggest that a multiplex capsular PCR assay may be suitable for the rapid initial identification serotypes P. multocida during epidemiological studies of fowl cholera.     

Changes in methanotrophic community composition after rice crop harvest in tropical soils

Four selected tropical field sites from India were studied to assess the diversity and community structure of methanotrophs in rice fields following crop harvest. The rate of methane oxidation ranged from 0.04 to 0.11 μmol L⁻¹ h⁻¹ g⁻¹ dry weight in soils. Methanotrophic population size was high for the agriculture farm of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) site followed by agriculture farm of the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Ghazipur, and Barkachcha. The cloning, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and sequence analyses of the pmoA gene fragment amplified from soil DNA extracts revealed the presence of type I and type II methanotrophs. The phylogenetic affiliation and community analysis based on the presence or absence of sequences showed that methanotrophs community composition in Barkachcha and Ghazipur soils was similar. IIVR soils, however, were quite different, while BHU soils were intermediate among the sites with regard to methanotrophic community composition. Diversity index of the methanotrophic community was high at the IIVR site. The study revealed that the rice harvest led to a change in type I methanotrophs from all the sites while type II community composition was almost uniform.     

Appraisal of growth curve in Sirohi goat using non-linear growth curve models

Tropical Animal Health and Production - In the present study, the appropriateness of five non-linear mixed growth curve models was studied to describe body weight growth of Sirohi male and female...