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Not AvailableSheep and goat brucellosis caused by Brucella melitensis, one of the most virulent Brucella species accounting for economic losses through abortion, stillbirths, reduction of milk yield and infertility. Disease has wide socioeconomic impact, in countries where, livestock sector is the major source of rural income. Early diagnosis is essential to minimise the spread of the disease besides public health importance. The present study reports the isolation, identification, biotyping and molecular confirmation of Brucella spp. in 18 different sheep and goat farms in Karnataka suspected to have brucellosis. A total of 550 serum samples, 25 aborted foetuses, uterine discharges and placental tissues were collected. The serum samples were subjected to Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Competitive ELISA (c-ELISA). The clinical samples were processed for cultural isolation on Brucella Agar Media with selective antibiotic supplements. A total of 200 (36.36%) and 260 (47.27 %) serum samples were positive by RBPT and c-ELISA, respectively, further 195 (35.45 %) of them being positive by both the tests. Five Brucella isolates were recovered from 100 clinical samples. The isolates were characterized to their species by growing them on Brucella specific medium, biochemical reactions, CO2 requirement, H2S production, agglutination with A and M mono-specific antiserum, dye sensitivity to basic fuchsin and thionin. Further, molecular confirmation of the isolates was done by amplification of B. melitensis 16S (rRNA) sequence analysis by genus specific PCR and species specific IS711 repetitive DNA fragment by Brucella AMOS PCR. The present study envisages seroprevalence of at least 35.45 per cent and isolation rate of 25 per cent for B. melitensis warranting the need for institution of strict control measures.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableBrucellosis still remains an infectious, highly contagious and re-emerging endemic zoonosis especially in the Mediterranean and Middle-East regions of the world involving many countries including India where it constitutes occupational hazard (Shakerian et al., 2013 and Khamesipour et al., 2014). It also poses a serious threat to livestock economy by causing abortion, loss of offspring, infertility and reduction in milk yield. The prevalence of brucellosis in animal reservoirs is an evidence of its prevalence in human population and control of animal brucellosis is the key to its control in humans. Early diagnosis is essential to minimise the spread of the disease besides public health importance. In the present study molecular characterization of five Brucella melitensis isolates was carried out through Bruce-ladder multiplex PCR and compared with Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis and Brucella suis vaccine and challenge strains. The amplification profile confirmed the isolates as Brucella melitensis and there was a significant difference among these field isolates with that of reference vaccine strains and the amplicons of all the field isolates were similar to amplicons of reference challenge strain, Brucella melitensis 16MNot Availabl

Isolation, biochemical and molecular identification, and in-vitro antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacteria isolated from bubaline subclinical mastitis in South India

Buffaloes are the second largest source of milk. Mastitis is a major impediment for milk production, but not much information is available about bubaline mastitis, especially subclinical mastitis. The aim of this study was to (a) investigate the application of various tests for the diagnosis of bubaline subclinical mastitis, (b) identify the major bacteria associated with it, and (c) evaluate the antibiotic resistance pattern of the bacteria. To this end, 190 quarter milk samples were collected from 57 domesticated dairy buffaloes from organized (64 samples) and unorganized (126 samples) sectors. Of these, 48.4%, 40.0%, 45.8%, 61.1%, and 61.6% were positive for subclinical mastitis by somatic cell count, electrical conductivity, California mastitis test, bromothymol blue test, and N-acetyl glucosaminidase test, respectively. As compared to the gold standard of somatic cell count, California mastitis test performed the best. However, a combination of the two methods was found to be the best option. Microbiological evaluation, both by biochemical methods as well as by monoplex and multiplex polymerase chain reaction, revealed that coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most predominant (64.8%) bacteria, followed by streptococci (18.1%), Escherichia coli (9.8%) and Staphylococcus aureus (7.3%). Most of the pathogens were resistant to multiple antibiotics, especially to β-lactam antibiotics. We propose that California mastitis test be combined with somatic cell count for diagnosis of subclinical mastitis in domestic dairy buffaloes. Further, our results reveal high resistance of the associated bacteria to the β-lactam class of antibiotics, and a possible major role of coagulase-negative staphylococci in causing the disease in India