Prevalence, Isolation, Characterisation and Antibiogram Study of Pathogenic Escherichia coli from Different Poultry Farms of Odisha

From 182 birds of different farms of odisha suspected for colibacillosis 317 swab samples containing 51 air sacs, 39 lungs, 53 livers, 36 heart bloods, 45 pericardial fluids, 19 yolk sacs and 74 intestine samples were processed for isolation and identification of pathogenic E. coli. and subjected to detail bacteriological and biochemical examination in the laboratory and 105 E. coli isolates were isolated following standard procedures. The percentage of isolation of E. coli isolates in decreasing order was yolk sac (52.6%) and heart blood (38.4%) in 0-4 week birds. In older birds (4-7week) the highest percentage of isolation was from pericardial fluid (35.8%) followed by heart blood (33.4%). The present study showed that the frequency of occurrence of O9 strain is highest (16.7%) followed by O1, O33 & O51 (13.3%), O23 & O119 (10%), O103 & 79 (6.7%) and serotype O90 (3.3%). The antibiogram study reveals that, E. coli isolates found were highly resistant to some of the classical drugs like chlortetracycline (88.58%), streptomycin (85.72%), penicillin-G (82.86%), amikacin (82.86%), furazolidone (77.14%), ampicillin (74.29%), Tetracycline(74.29%), Amoxicillin (71.43%) and cotrimoxazole (71.43%), while isolates were highly sensitive to ceftriaxone and tazobactum (94.29%), ceftriaxone (91.43%), gentamicin (85.72%), chloromphenicol (82.67%), cephotaxime (77.14%), cefixime (74.29%) and ciprofloxacin (74.29%)

Rapid situation & response assessment of diarrhoea outbreak in a coastal district following tropical cyclone AILA in India

Background & objectives : Cyclone AILA hit Indian States on eastern coast on May 25, 2009. An investigation was conducted to examine if AILA was responsible for increased reporting of diarrhoea cases from the district of East-Medinipur in West Bengal. Identifying causative organisms for diarrhoea and assessing their antibiotic susceptibility profile were other objectives. Methods: Rapid situation and response assessment technique was employed to triangulate primary and secondary data collected through field visits. Prescription audit was also conducted. Results: Significantly increased occurrence of diarrhoea was observed in June 2009 in two subdivisions namely Haldia and Egra (OR 1.6 and 1.3 respectively; 95% CI 1.52-1.65 and 1.21-1.32 P<0.001) considering 2007 as baseline. Vibrio cholerae grew from 54 per cent of the stool samples (21/39; 17 V. cholerae O1-Ogawa and 4 non-O1-non-O139), confirming a community outbreak of cholera. Shigella flexneri 3a was isolated from 5 per cent stool specimens. Increased rate of admission in treatment centres due to diarrhoea in the whole district coincided with the formation of cyclone and showed over two-fold rise compared to the admission recorded 6 days ago. Haldia subdivision had the highest attack rate of 9 per 1000 in the month of June, 2009 whereas for the whole district it was 5 per 1000 in the same month. All the isolates of V. cholerae were resistant to ampicillin and furazolidone and sensitive to norfloxacin and azithromycin. Interpretation & conclusions : Pre-AILA changes in the environment, AILA and seasonality of diarrhoea in the study district interplayed towards increased occurrence of diarrhoea. Continuous tracking of 'seasonality of diarrhoea in the community with vulnerability assessment of potential hosts', 'antibiotic sensitivity profile of the causative microorganisms', and 'prescription practice of physicians' would help appropriate disaster management

Mapping of Soil Fertility Status in a Coastal Village of Odisha Using Geospatial Technology

The most fundamental decision-making tool for sustainable soil nutrient management is the assessment of soil fertility in a region. During 2021, a soil fertility status inventory was prepared through National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project in Achyutadaspur village of Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha. A total of 125 surface soil samples were randomly collected from a depth of 0-15 cm with GPS locations and soil parameters like pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, available N, P, K, S, Zn, and B were evaluated using standard analytical procedures. GIS maps have been prepared using ArcGIS software based on the analysis report. The majority of the soil was found acidic around 62.4% area of the village, followed by neutral soil pH in 33.6% area. The organic carbon status of the soil was found low in 79.2% area and medium in 20.8% area, available N was found low in 96% area and medium in 4% area, available P was found medium in 82.4% area and high in 17.6% area, available K was low in 27.2% area, medium in 64% area, and high in 8.8% area, and available S was found low in 37.6% area and medium in 62.4% area. Among the available micronutrients, Zn was found low in 79.2% area and medium in 20.8% area. Similarly, hot water extractable boron was found low in 92.6% area of the region and medium in 7.4% area. By adopting soil map based fertilizer recommendation with improved practices in the Achyutadaspur village, 17.92% yield was increased over farmers’ practices. The benefit cost ratio (B:C ratio) of rice was found to be 1.89 whereas 1.65 in farmers practices