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Not AvailableBackground: Brucella abortus S19 is the most widely used vaccine for the prevention of bovine brucellosis which remains the reference vaccine to which many other vaccine/s are compared. Considering the larger vaccination coverage by reduced dose of vaccine, the study aimed to compare reduced graded doses (1/10th, 1/20th and 1/100th) with standard dose of S19 vaccine (40 × 109CFU /dose) to determine the effective immunizing dose in water buffaloes. Methods: A total of 25 female buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis) in the age group of 4–5 months were equally grouped into five animals each in four test and one control groups and given with specified vaccine dose. The blood samples were collected on post vaccination days 14, 28, 45, 60, 90 and 120 for assessing innate (TNF-α and IL-12), humoral (IgG antibodies against Brucella LPS) and cell mediated immune responses (IFN-γ, CD4 + and CD8 + counts). Results: The full dose, 1/10th and 1/20th reduced doses of S19 vaccine was capable of eliciting pathogen-specific antibody response, vaccine induced secretion of IL-12, TNF-α and IFN-γ with CD4 + and CD8 + effector T cell responses. Persistence of antibody and magnitude of immune responses were found dose dependent. Conclusion: Comparable immune responses were noticed with 1/10th reduced dose similar to standard dose. With this observation, decline of antibody titre will reduce the number of false positives and reduced dose of vaccine will facilitate larger vaccination coverage in the country.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableBrucellosis is an important zoonosis that constitutes a serious public health hazard which is caused by a bacterium belonging to the genus Brucella. In the present study, two highly specific serological tests for brucellosis diagnosis, fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) and competitive ELISA (cELISA) were standardized in the laboratory, evaluated and compared with rose bengal plate test (RBPT), indirect ELISA (iELISA) and commercial cELISA kit. For test evaluation, 1386 serum samples [apparently healthy animals (n = 260), samples from Brucella infected farms (n = 701) and B. abortus S19 vaccinated animals (n = 425)] were analyzed to assess suitable diagnostic test in B. abortus S19 post vaccinated bovine population. In apparently healthy brucellosis free farms, RBPT, iELISA, in-house FPA and cELISA were found to be highly specific than commercial cELISA. Commercial cELISA kit was comparatively more sensitive than other serological tests in samples collected from infected farms. The FPA showed sensitivity nearly equal to RBPT and in-house cELISA showed greater sensitivity than RBPT in infected farms. In animals with persistent vaccinal antibodies, only in-house FPA and cELISA recorded higher specificity of 87.64 and 90.27%, respectively. The other tests, RBPT and iELISA displayed similar reactivity with vaccine antibodies to that of infection antibodies whereas commercial cELISA kit showed an intermediate specificity of 47.69%. With these findings, RBPT, iELISA and cELISA are suggested for screening infected herds, and in-house developed FPA and cELISA tests with a proven specificity can be used for confirmatory diagnosis of brucellosis in B. abortus S19 post vaccinated animal populations.Not Availabl

Characterization of humoral and cellular immune responses elicited by reduced doses of Brucella abortus S19 (calfhood) vaccine in cattle calves of India

Brucella abortus S19 vaccine is a stable attenuated smooth strain, globally used as calfhood vaccine for the prevention of bovine brucellosis. Various agencies demonstrated different doses for vaccinating cattle and buffalo calves leading to ambiguity in selecting a suitable immune vaccine dose. The current study aimed at evaluating four graded doses of S19 vaccine to arrive at the dose which could produce comparable effectiveness as that of full dose prescribed by Indian Pharmacopeia among the Indian calves. Four vaccine doses of which the first dose consisted of full dose (40 × 109 CFU/dose) and the other three were 1/10th, 1/20th, 1/100th reduced doses along with control were tested. Each vaccine dose was administered to 13 cattle calves of 4–5 months of age maintained in separate groups. The blood samples were collected on 0 to 240 days post-vaccination (DPV) at the intervals of 0, 14, 28, 45, 60, 90, 150, 180 and 240 for assessment of vaccine-induced innate, humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. The sero-conversion of all vaccinated animals on DPV 45 and persistence of antibody till DPV 240 were noticed. No significant differences were observed in antibody response between animal groups that received full and 1/10th reduced doses. Innate and cell-mediated response by IL-6, TNF-α¸ IFN-γ, CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts showed dose-dependent responses with no significant difference between full dose and 1/10th reduced doses. The results suggest a possible one log reduction of full dose without compromising immune responses to aid larger vaccination coverage for creating herd immunity

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Not AvailableBackground and Aim: Brucellosis caused by bacteria belongs to the genus Brucella is an important zoonosis and constitutes a serious public health hazard worldwide including India. The present study aimed to estimate the knowledge of veterinarians on brucellosis, its public health threat, diagnosis, and vaccination. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during 2013-2015 and 453 veterinarians representing 11 states/Union Territories (UT) of India (Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab) were interviewed using self-administered questionnaire. Results: Out of 453 veterinarians, 71.74% stated handling of the animals on day-to-day basis and 28.25% were engaged in administration activities. The veterinarians ranked foot-and-mouth disease and brucellosis at the first and fourth ranks among the list of ten economic impacted diseases in the country. A significant association was observed between laboratory confirmation with those who handled brucellosis-suspected cases (p=0.000). Similarly, significant association was noted for the availability of vials/slides (p=0.114), vacutainers (p=0.008), icebox (p=0.103), and refrigerator (p=0.106) for those who preferred laboratory diagnosis. Only 20% of the veterinarians recommended vaccination against bovine brucellosis, and 17% obtained laboratory confirmation for the brucellosis-suspected cases. Conclusion: The study highlighted the need for awareness programs, laboratory facilities, veterinary doctors, and protective measures for the veterinarians for combating brucellosis through the control program in the country.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThis study aimed to develop latex agglutination test (LAT) using recombinant leptospiral immunoglobulin-like protein (LigB) (rLigB) antigen and compare its diagnostic efficacy with LAT using conventional heat-killed leptospiral antigen and microscopic agglutination test (MAT) in diagnosing bovine leptospirosis. The PCR-amplified 1053-bp ligB gene sequences from Leptospira borgpetersenii Hardjo serovar were cloned in pET 32 (a) vector at EcoRI and NotI sites and expressed in BL21 E. coli cells as fusion protein with thioredoxin (-57 kDa) and characterized by SDS-PAGE and immunoblot. Out of 390 serum samples [cattle (n = 214), buffaloes (n = 176)] subjected to MAT, 115 samples showed reciprocal titre≥100 up to 1600 against one or more serovars. For recombinant LigB protein/antigen-based LAT, agglutination was observed in the positive sample, while no agglutination was observed in the negative sample. Similarly, heat-killed leptospiral antigen was prepared from and used in LAT for comparison with MAT. A two-sided contingency table was used for analysis of LAT using both the antigens separately against MAT for 390 serum samples. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of recombinant LigB LAT were found to be 75.65, 91.27, 78.38 and 89.96 %, respectively, and that of heat-killed antigen-based LAT were 72.17, 89.82, 74.77 and 88.53 %, respectively, in comparison with MAT. This developed test will be an alternative/complementary to the existing battery of diagnostic assays/tests for specific detection of pathogenic Leptospira infection in bovine population.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableLateral flow assay (LFA) for brucellosis was standardized and evaluated. The test showed high diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for diagnosis of brucellosis in bovines, small ruminants and swine. The study emphasized the importance of LFA as a useful, rapid, and easy-to-perform tool for the testing of brucellosis.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableBACKGROUND:Swine brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella suis. The study describes the occurrence of brucellosis in two organized piggeries in Southern India. METHODS:A total of 585 serum samples comprising 575 from pigs and 10 from animal handlers were collected and tested by serological tests and PCR. Tissue samples were collected for isolation of the pathogen. RESULTS:Out of 575 serum samples screened, 236 (41.04%) were positive for brucellosis by both Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and indirect ELISA (iELISA) and 47 (8.17) samples showed Brucella DNA amplification by genus specific PCR. The sows those aborted and 19 boars with orchitis were seropositive for brucellosis indicating association of clinical symptoms with brucellosis seropositivity. Two of 10 pig handlers were positive by RBPT and showed significant serum agglutination test (SAT) titres of >1:160 and 1:320. B. suis bvI was isolated and identified by biochemical tests and confirmed by amplification Brucella genus and Bruce ladder PCRs from vaginal and testicular samples. CONCLUSIONS:The introduction of untested breeding boars in the farms might have resulted in the disease transmission and spread. The present study highlighted the diagnosis of B. suis bvI as a cause of abortions in the pigs and occupational exposure to farm personnel.Not Availabl