Evaluation of Therapeutic Trials in Bovines

Brucellosis is one of the most common and economically important zoonotic diseases globally. Office International des Epizooties (OIE) listed it as the second most important zoonotic disease. The disease affects almost all animals but importantly buffalo. The disease manifests itself in the form of abortion, still births, weak calves, infertility, and specific lesions on reproductive organs. It is prevalent worldwide but still a neglected disease. As a zoonotic disease its importance is multifarious for animals as well as public health. Taking into account poor health facilities and unawareness, its control becomes very significant. The difficulty to treat this disease and its zoonotic potential compel slaughtering as a best strategy to get rid of this disease. There are not too many therapeutic trials conducted to control bovine brucellosis. Instead many therapeutic trials have been conducted for treating human brucellosis. The therapeutic trial requires long term administration of drugs (almost 6 weeks) without any surety of complete recovery so it is a preferred practice to eradicate the animal or sell it out instead of treating

Leptospirosis: An Emerging Zoonosis in Pakistan

Abstract.-Leptospirosis is an important zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira species. Many domestic and wild animals act as reservoirs and ultimate source of contamination to human population. Since it is an emerging infectious disease that is under reported in developing countries, this report would provide baseline study for clinicians and researchers. To study the serosurveillance of human leptospirosis, 100 human (78 males; 22 females) blood samples were collected from Lahore city and its peri-urban areas and processed by cELISA Serion ELISA classic microtiter plate. The results of this study revealed 44% prevalence of human leptospirosis. Among 78 males and 22 females, 38 males (49%) and 06 females (27%) were found positive. Age wise serosurveillance demonstrate 47% prevalence in adults and 35% in young ones. Season wise 42%, 40%, 26% and 47% were observed in Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring, respectively. It is concluded that highest prevalence was in male adults while spring and summer were more susceptible seasons having leptospirosis infection. This is the first report of serosurveillance of leptospirosis in humans in Pakistan

Prevalence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Humans and Dogs in Pakistan

Abstract.-The study was undertaken fro

An Assessment and Control of AFM₁ in Milk and Main Dairy Products in Lahore, Pakistan

The main objective of this study is to investigate the presence of Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in local and processed milk and main dairy products available in Lahore. Total 60 milk samples and 120 samples of dairy products including butter (n = 30), cheese (n = 30), cream (n = 30), and yogurt (n = 30) were collected. Milk samples were collected from 3 different sources i.e. unprocessed milk from local milk shop (n = 20) and a local dairy farm (n = 20), and processed milk sample from a commercial shop (n = 20) while samples of each dairy product were also different i.e. processed (n = 15) and unprocessed (n = 15). Milk samples were analyzed using kit method while dairy product samples were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique equipped with fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD) followed by immunoaffinity column clean up. In second phase of the study, efficacy of three different toxin binders was compared and analyzed. The results showed that AFM1 was detected in 16.7% of processed butter samples, 33.3% of processed cheese samples, 13.3% of local cream samples and 26.6% of processed yogurt samples and these samples exceeds European Union (EU) permissible limits of 0.05 ppb with mean concentration 0.090 ± 0.180 μg/kg and 0.000 ± 0.000 μg/kg for processed and local butter samples, 0.350 ± 0.606 μg/kg and 0.000 ± 0.000 μg/kg for processed and local cheese samples, 0.000 ± 0.000 μg/kg and 0.542 ± 1.085 μg/kg for processed and local cream samples and 0.552 ± 1.001 μg/kg and 0.000 ± 0.000 μg/kg for processed and local yogurt samples, respectively. Moreover, milk samples showed highest AFM1 (62%) in local unprocessed dairy farm followed by samples from local milk shop (51%) and commercial dairy farm (31%). In addition, therapeutic efficacy of three different types of toxin binders showed that the toxin binder which had yeast wall (75%) and algae (25%) is the best to control AFM1 under field conditions. Overall, results of this study are valuable for dairy farmers on one hand and law enforcement authorities on the other to comprehend and control AFM1 problem in milk and main dairy products

Tick-Borne Pathogens Shape the Native Microbiome Within Tick Vectors

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Ticks are blood-feeding arthropods and transmit a variety of medically important viral, bacterial, protozoan pathogens to animals and humans. Ticks also harbor a diverse community of microbes linked to their biological processes, such as hematophagy, and hence affect vector competence. The interactions between bacterial and/or protozoan pathogens and the tick microbiome is a black-box, and therefore we tested the hypothesis that the presence of a protozoan or bacterial pathogen will alter the microbial composition within a tick. Hence, this study was designed to define the microbial composition of two tick species, Hyalomma (H.) anatolicum and Rhipicephalus (R.) microplus. We used a combination of PCR based pathogen (Anaplasma marginale and Theileria species) and symbiont (Wolbachia species) identification followed by metagenomic sequencing and comparison of the microbial communities in PCR positive and negative ticks. A total of 1786 operational taxonomic units was identified representing 25 phyla, 50 classes, and 342 genera. The phylum Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteriota, and Bacteroidota were the most represented bacteria group. Alpha and beta diversity were not significantly affected in the presence or absence of Theileria sp. and A. marginale as see with H. anatolicum ticks. Interestingly, bacterial communities were significantly reduced in Theileria sp. infected R. microplus ticks, while also exhibiting a significant reduction in microbial richness and evenness. Putting these observations together, we referred to the effect the presence of Theileria sp. has on R. microplus a “pathogen-induced dysbiosis”. We also identify the presence of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of human malaria from the microbiome of both H. anatolicum and R. microplusticks. These findings support the presence of a “pathogen-induced dysbiosis” within the tick and further validation experiments are required to investigate how they are important in the vector competence of ticks. Understanding the mechanism of “pathogen-induced dysbiosis” on tick microbial composition may aid the discovery of intervention strategies for the control of emerging tick-borne infections

Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immune Response Validation in Calves after a Live Attenuated Vaccine of Babesia bigemina

The current vaccines to control bovine Babesia bigemina (B. bigemina) infection are not fully protective and vaccination failures incur heavy losses to the cattle industry around the world. Using modified micro-aerophilous stationary phase, we developed a culture-derived attenuated live vaccine against B. bigemina and tested a single subcutaneous inoculation of 2 × 108 infected erythrocytes in calves. The protection was measured after a lethal intravenous challenge with 5 × 108 virulent calf-derived B. bigemina. Our results demonstrated that a single shot of attenuated vaccine was capable of inducing robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in calves. We found a significant increase in the IgG antibody titers post-challenge and a strong proliferation of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells contributing towards the protection. Our vaccine provided complete protection and parasitic clearance, which was followed for more than 100 days post-challenge. This immunity against babesiosis was directly linked to strong humoral responses; however, the parasitic clearance was attributed to significant T cells effector responses in vaccinated calves as compared to the infected control calves. We anticipate that these results will be helpful in the development of more efficient culture-derived vaccines against Babesia infections, thus reducing significant global economic losses to farmers and the cattle industry

Toxic Effects of Chloroform and Aqueous Extracts of Peganum harmala on Hematological and Growth Parameters in Rabbits

Abstract.-The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the toxic effects of Peganum harmala extracts on hematological and growth parameters using rabbit model. Thirty five rabbits (1200-1700 g) of either sex were randomly divided into 3 groups D, E and F. The rabbits in group D were given P. harmala chloroform extract, while the members in group E were administered P. harmala water extract. The animals in group F were given normal saline. The groups D and E were further divided into three sub-groups of 5 each receiving 1, 5 and 10 mg/ml of extract. Blood samples from each rabbit were collected at day 0 (pre-medication), day 9 and day 30 (post-medication). Feed efficiency and daily weight gain in group D3 and E3 on day 30, was significantly lower (P<0.05) compared to control group F. Erythrocytes count in group D3 was significantly lower (P<0.05) than control group F on day 30. A non-significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in hemoglobin concentration and leukocyte count in rabbits of all treatments groups. It was concluded that parenteral administration of chloroform extract of P. harmala at 10mg/kg had more deleterious pronounced effect on growth rate and erythrocyte count in rabbits compared to aqueous extract of the plant