Sensitivity of Different Cattle Breeds to the Infestation of Cattle Ticks Amblyomma variegatum, Rhipicephalus microplus, and Hyalomma spp. on the Natural Pastures of Opkara Farm, Benin

A study was carried out on the Opkara (Benin) cattle farm on 64 cattle of four different breeds (16 individuals per breed) from June to December 2016. During this study, three tick species were found in different numbers, Amblyomma variegatum (732), Rhipicephalus microplus (8079), and Hyalomma spp. (208), with parasitic intensity of 11.90, 126.23, and 3.25, respectively. The interracial comparison of the tick infestation between the cattle showed a significant difference (P<0.001). However, Girolando was more infested than all the cattle breeds. Infestation of A. variegatum, R. microplus, and Hyalomma spp. on the Girolando was, respectively, 19.43 ± 2.71, 171.25 ± 23.50, and 7.12 ± 0.63, but the Borgou were less infested. Borgou breed females were more infested by A. variegatum (4.41 ± 1.14) than females Girolando (4.20 ± 0.90). The Crossbred and Azawak females were less infested (P<0.01). The mean of A. variegatum on Borgou, Azawak, Crossbred, and Girolando calves was 1.29 ± 0.35, 0.66 ± 0.26, 1.37 ± 0.37, and 2.25 ± 0.48 (P<0.01), respectively. The results of this study can be exploited to include genetic and nongenetic approaches to tick control

An Optimized Trichloroacetic Acid/Acetone Precipitation Method for Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis Analysis of Qinchuan Cattle Longissimus Dorsi Muscle Containing High Proportion of Marbling.

Longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) proteomics provides a novel opportunity to reveal the molecular mechanism behind intramuscular fat deposition. Unfortunately, the vast amounts of lipids and nucleic acids in this tissue hampered LD proteomics analysis. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation is a widely used method to remove contaminants from protein samples. However, the high speed centrifugation employed in this method produces hard precipitates, which restrict contaminant elimination and protein re-dissolution. To address the problem, the centrifugation precipitates were first grinded with a glass tissue grinder and then washed with 90% acetone (TCA/acetone-G-W) in the present study. According to our result, the treatment for solid precipitate facilitated non-protein contaminant removal and protein re-dissolution, ultimately improving two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis. Additionally, we also evaluated the effect of sample drying on 2-DE profile as well as protein yield. It was found that 30 min air-drying did not result in significant protein loss, but reduced horizontal streaking and smearing on 2-DE gel compared to 10 min. In summary, we developed an optimized TCA/acetone precipitation method for protein extraction of LD, in which the modifications improved the effectiveness of TCA/acetone method

Toxoplasma gondii infection in meat animals from Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis of sero-epidemiological studies

Aim: Toxoplasma gondii is an ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite which causes toxoplasmosis in humans and animals. Felids especially cats are definitive hosts and almost all warm-blooded mammals, including livestock and human can serve as intermediate hosts. Food animals can be reservoirs for T. gondii and act as one of the sources for parasite transmission to humans. The objective of this study is to collect serological data on the prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody, and risk factors for certain food animals from Africa to provide a quantitative estimate of T. gondii infection among these species from different African countries. Materials and Methods: Four databases were used to search seroepidemiological data on the prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody in food animals between 1969 and 2016 from African countries. The search focused on data obtained by serologic test in food animals and meta-analyses were performed per species. Results: A total of 30,742 individual samples from 24 countries, described in 68 articles were studied. The overall estimated prevalence for toxoplasmosis in chicken, camel, cattle, sheep, goat, pig were 37.4% (29.2-46.0%), 36% (18-56%), 12% (8-17%), 26.1% (17.0-37.0%), 22.9% (12.3-36.0%), and 26.0% (20-32.0%), respectively. Moreover, major risk factor of infection was age, farming system, and farm location. Conclusions: A significant variation in the seroepidemiological data was observed within each species and country. The results can aid in an updated epidemiological analysis but also can be used as an important input in quantitative microbial risk assessment models. Further studies are required for a better and continual evaluation of the occurrence of this zoonotic infection

Inventory of biosecurity measures and antibiotics therapy practices on laying hen farms in Benin

Background and Aim: Laying hen breeding is on the rise in Benin; nevertheless, there are several sanitary constraints to its development, including bacterial diseases. Faced with this situation, breeders mainly resort to different means of treatment. The objective of this study was to assess the current state of hygiene measures, the bacterial diseases commonly encountered, and antibiotic therapy practices on laying hen farms in Benin. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 laying hen farms were randomly selected from lists of laying hen farms obtained from veterinary offices, territorial agricultural development agencies, and the Benin National Union of Professional Aviculturists. Each visited farmer was subjected to a semi-structured questionnaire by direct interview. The results were compared using the bilateral Z-test. Results: The results of this survey revealed that 99.5% of the surveyed farms had a health and medical prophylaxis program although only 88.5% of them reported strictly adhering to it (p<0.001). About 25.0% of them reported that the dominant bacterial diseases they commonly encountered on their farms were salmonellosis, colibacillosis, and chronic respiratory disease. Only 7.0% of farmers said that they confirmed their diagnosis outside of clinical signs through laboratory analysis. To control these pathologies, 14.5% of farmers used only oxytetracycline, while 39.0% used other antibiotics such as colistin, enrofloxacin, tylosin, tylodox, flumequine, and norfloxacin. In comparison, 13.5% used a trimethoprim-sulfadimethoxine and sulfadimidine combination, while 32.0% said that they used erythromycin, oxytetracycline, streptomycin, neomycin, and colistin (p<0.001) combination. Conclusion: This study highlights the inadequacies of hygiene and antibiotic therapy practices implemented on Benin's laying hen farms

Preliminary study on the tick population of Benin wildlife at the moment of its invasion by the Rhipicephalus microplus tick (Canestrini, 1888)

Background and Aim: Rhipicephalus microplus (Rm) is one of the most problematic livestock tick species in the world. Its rapid propagation and resistance to acaricides make it control difficult in the sub-region and Benin particularly. The aim of this work was to check its presence in wildlife and to confirm the possible role of reservoir wildlife may play in the propagation of the parasite. This will help to design more efficient control strategy. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted from February to March 2017 in the National Parks of Benin (Pendjari and W Park) and wildfowl's assembly and selling point in Benin. Ticks were manually picked with forceps from each animal after slaughtering by hunters then stored in 70° ethanol. Collected ticks were counted and identified in the laboratory using the identification key as described by Walker. Results: Overall, seven species of ticks (Amblyomma variegatum, Boophilus decoloratus, Rm, Boophilus spp., Hyalomma spp., Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus spp.) were identified on nine wild animal species sampled (Cane rat, wildcat, Hare, Doe, Cricetoma, Buffalo, Buffon Cobe, and Bushbuck and Warthog). The average number of ticks varies from 3 to 6 between animal species, 3 to 7 between localities visited, and 2 to 5 between tick species. However, these differences are statistically significant only for localities. Considering tick species and animal species, the parasite load of Rm and Rhipicephalus spp. is higher; the buffalo being more infested. The analysis of deviance reveals that the abundance of ticks observed depends only on the observed localities (p>0.05). However, the interactions between animal species and localities on the one hand and between animal and tick species on the other hand, although not significant, have influenced the abundance of ticks as they reduce the residual deviance after their inclusion in the model. Conclusion: This study reported the presence of Rm in wildlife of Benin and confirmed its role in the maintenance and spread of the parasites. It is, therefore, an important risk factor that we must not neglect in the epidemiological surveillance and ticks control strategies in the West African sub-region and particularly in Benin

Overlay analysis of total protein spots with different methods.

<p>A: comparison of TCA/acetone-G-W to direct extraction; B: comparison of TCA/acetone-G-W to two standard TCA/acetone procedures. U represented the number of unique spots from each method; C represented the number of spots common to all the methods.</p

Representative 2-DE maps of LD protein extracted using different methods.

<p>A: one-step extraction by lysis buffer; B: TCA/acetone; C: TCA/acetone-B; D: TCA/acetone-G-W. The modified procedure of TCA/acetone-G-W gave the best 2-DE gel with a clear background and minimal streaking and smearing.</p

Protein yields associated to the different protein extraction protocols.

<p>Values followed by different letters are significantly different in a row (capital: p<0.01, lowercase: p<0.05).</p><p>Protein yields associated to the different protein extraction protocols.</p