Antibacterial efficacy of ethyl acetate fraction of Psidium guajava leaf aqueous extract on experimental Escherichia coli (O78) infection in chickens

Aim: This study was desingned to examine the efficacy of ethyl acetate fraction of aqueous extracted Psidium guajava leaves on chicks experimentally-infected with diarrheagenic strain of Escherichia coli O78. Methods: A total of 60 ISA brown male chicks were randomly divided into 6 Groups of ten chicks each in separate cages. Group A was not infected and not treated. Groups B, C and D were infected and treated with extracts at a dose of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg respectively for 10 days. Group E was infected and treated with oxytetracycline while Group F was infected, but left untreated. Chicks from all groups were closely monitored for clinical signs, body weight change and fecal bacterial shedding load during the course of the experiment. Results: Diarrhea, vents pasted with feces, drop in feed intake accompanied by slow weight gain and decreased activity was observed in infected untreated groups. Groups treated with graded doses of the extract experienced a dose-dependent decreased in severity of the clinical signs shown compared to the infected untreated group. Bacterial shedding load was found to be lower in groups treated with the extract and oxytetracycline than those without intervention. Conclusion: Ethyl acetate soluble fraction of leaf extract of Psidium guajava effectively controlled diarrhea and decreased the severity of other clinical signs caused by experimental E. coli infections in chicks

Response of Domestic Pigeons (Columba livia) to Experimental Infection with Chicken Isolate of Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) Virus

The susceptibility of pigeons (Columba livia) to chicken isolate of infectious bursal disease (IBD) virus was investigated under arid zone condition. Thirty pigeons, 15 adults and 15 young ones were acquired from the Maiduguri Monday Market and some households in Maiduguri. The pigeons were divided into two groups thus: Group A, which is the experimental group and consisted of ten (10) adults and ten (10) young pigeons. Group B that served as the control group was made up of five (5) adults and five (5) young pigeons. Pigeons in group A were infected with 3 drops of IBD virus inoculum orally while those in group B were given same quantity of normal saline per os. All the pigeons in groups A and B did not manifest any clinical sign throughout the period of the study. However, some of the serum samples from the infected group were positive for presence of precipitin antibody on day 7 and 14 PI, while all the samples became negative on 21 days PI. The study revealed that pigeons (young and adults) are resistant to experimental infection with chicken isolate of IBD virus. However, the birds seroconverted following exposure to the virus despite the absence of clinical signs. This showed that there was “virus take” following exposure of the species to IBD virus. The possible role of pigeons in the epidemiology of IBD in Nigeria need to be further investigated. Keywords: Domestic pigeon, experimental infection, IBD virusSahel Journal of Veterinary Sciences Vol. 5 (1) 2006 pp. 59-6

Natural outbreak of Newcastle disease in village chickens obtained from various sources in semi-arid region of Nigeria

An outbreak of Newcastle Diseases (ND) was investigated in caged local chickens that were obtained from various locations in and around Bama, Nigeria. A morbidity rate of 58% and morality rate of 60% were recorded among the affected birds. The birds started dying two days after the onset of clinical signs. The signs observed were consistent with ND and included respiratory distress with gasping and sometimes coughing; nervous signs such as paralysis, torticollis; loss of appetite, swollen head and wattles, sometimes ocular and nasal discharge, severe conjunctives and death after some days. The death peaked on day 5 following onset of clinical signs and ceased on day 13 after the onset. The histopathological lesions observed include congestion of the spleen, kidney and lungs, hemorrhages in the proventriculus and kidney. Majority 20/26 (76.9%) of the sera tested during the acute phase of the disease were negative of ND antibodies while those collected during the convalescent phase of the disease showed varying titres ranging between 1:20 and 1:80, suggested of a recent viral infection. All tissue samples collected from infected birds were positive for Newcastle disease virus haemagglutinating antigens and titers ranging between 1:2 and 1:6 were recorded. It was concluded that the outbreak might have been as a result of introduction of some in apparently infected chicken into the cage. It was recommended that the birds should be screened for the presence of ND virus before introduce into a new flock in addition village chicken should be obtained from source that are not infected with the virus and village chicken should be vaccinated routinely against ND

Participatory Disease Surveillance in the Detection of Trans- Boundary Animal Diseases (TADS) in Borno State of Arid North- Eastern Nigeria

This paper reports the detection of trans-boundary animal diseases using participatory disease surveillance in Borno State. Participatory epidemiology is an emerging field that is based on the use of participatory techniques for harvesting qualitative epidemiological intelligence contained within community observations, existing veterinary knowledge and traditional oral history. Different techniques of participatory disease surveillance used for this study includes simple ranking, pair wise ranking, proportional piling, transect walk and interview with key informants with the use of check list as a guide were applied in randomly selected 35 villages/communities cutting across all the 3 senatorial districts in Borno State. Analysis of data indicated that the most dominant livestock species in the study area is cattle. The various livestock diseases occurring in the communities visited were identified. The most prevalent disease of cattle is foot and mouth disease (FMD), peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in sheep and goats and Newcastle disease (ND) in poultry. The transboundary animal diseases detected in the study area were FMD, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), bovine tuberculosis, anthrax, PPR and ND. The use of participatory disease surveillance proved to be a useful tool for detecting disease problems from farmers.Keywords: Participatory disease surveillance, Trans-boundary animal diseases, Borno State, Nigeria

Antibody profile following vaccination with thermostable (ND-I2) vaccine in village chicken that survived the Newcastle disease outbreak

The antibody profile of village chickens that recovered from clinical Newcastle disease infection were monitored following vaccination with thermostable (NDI2-HR) vaccine over a period of 5 weeks. The birds were grouped into two: vaccinated and non-vaccinated. Antibody profile was determined using haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Seromonitoring result revealed a significant (p<0.05) seroconversion with rise in Geometric antibody titer (GMT) values of antibody among the vaccinated birds that survived the outbreak, with peaked at week two following vaccination and declined subsequently in both study groups. No significant difference was observed in the antibody profile of vaccinated and non-vaccinated group which is an indication of low response to vaccination. Vaccination of surviving birds following ND outbreak may be of little value in development of immunity to the disease