Molecular Study of Glycoprotein (G) Gene Region of Rabies Virus from Spotted Deer, Delhi, India

Rabies is a viral zoonotic disease of public health importance in India. The disease is usually transmitted by a rabid animal bite, scratches and licks on broken skin and mucous membrane. Rabies is reported from all continents except Antarctica although prevalence is more in Asia and Africa. India is endemic for rabies virus (RABV) throughout the country except for islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar. In the present study, brain samples of clinically suspected animals obtained during the RABV outbreak at National Zoological Park, New Delhi, India, in 2016 were initially tested for rabies antigen by DFAT. All the 32 DFAT positive brain samples were then processed for RNA isolation. The extracted RNA was amplified for glycoprotein (G) gene of 590 bp by RT-PCR followed by nucleotide sequencing. Nucleotide alignment revealed only substitutions without any insertion or deletion. Amino acid alignment revealed replacement at four positions namely L244I, T264A, M310I and N375K. The amino acid change at position where Leucine is replaced by Isoleucine has not been observed in available RABV references of the G gene region either from India or other countries. This mutation was observed in all the samples included in the present study. A phylogenetic tree showed that all the study sequences belonged to Arctic like 1a lineage, in RABV genotype 1. In conclusion, RABV in the study region is acquiring genetic variation; which may have effect on the pathogenicity. This indicates that continued molecular surveillance of the circulating rabies virus strains should be carried out

Evaluation of Direct Rapid Immunohistochemistry Test (DRIT) for Postmortem Diagnosis of Rabies

Direct fluorescent antibody test (DFAT) is considered as the gold standard for diagnosis of rabies in infected mammals as it has high sensitivity and specificity. However, high cost and technical demand limits its utilization, particularly in developing countries including India. Therefore, in this study we evaluated recently developed direct rapid immunohistochemistry test (DRIT) for diagnosis of rabies in comparison with the DFAT. A total of 109 brain samples received during the period of 6 years from different regions of India were tested following standard protocol. The results showed 100% correlation between the two tests.

Influence of age, sex and season on morbidity and mortality pattern in goats under village conditions of Madhya Pradesh

Aim: To study factors affecting morbidity and mortality pattern in goats in Chambal division of Madhya Pradesh under village conditions. Materials and Methods: The sampling scheme adopted during study was stratified three stage random sampling and data on 549 goats were recorded. Results: The overall morbidity and mortality rate was 20.58% and 10.20% respectively. Proportional mortality due to diarrhoea was highest (35.71%) followed by pneumonia (28.57%) and miscellaneous causes (12.5%). Pattern of morbidity in male and female was almost similar. Age of goats was the most important factor and accounted for 39.29%, 28.57% and 32.14% mortality in 0-3 month, 6-9 month and above 9 months, respectively. The effect of season on goat mortality was significant (p<0.05).The incidence of mortality were 41.07%, 37.5% and 21.43% in winter, rainy and summer season respectively. Conclusion: In goats mortality was significantly influenced by age groups and suggesting that more care and attention need to be paid in kids 0-3 months age irrespective of season. Mortality due to various diseases in kids and adults could be minimized by identifying the cause and giving proper treatment. [Vet World 2013; 6(6.000): 329-331

Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationship Analysis between Red Jungle Fowl and Domestic Chicken using AFLP Markers

Genetic variation and phylogenetic relationships among 76 birds belonging to Indian Red Jungle Fowl (RJF) and three domestic chicken breeds viz. one Indian native sport breed, Aseel (AS) and two global high yielding breeds of egg type, White Leghorn (WL) and meat type, Red Cornish (RC) were evaluated using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers. A total of 318 scorable dominant AFLP bands in the range of 50-500 bp using 20 EcoRI/TaqI primer combinations were detected across populations. The mean number of polymorphic bands across all four populations was 15.5 per primer combination. Species-specific bands were also found in all populations except WL. Nei’s gene diversity was measured between RJF and domestic chickens and it was significantly higher in RJF population (0.309) as compared to the domestic chicken populations of AS (0.129), WL (0.067) and RC (0.066). RJF showed maximum genetic distance with RC (0.221) and minimum with AS (0.177) population. The divergence between RJF and domestic chicken was observed by constructing an UPGMA dendrogram. RJF was present in one cluster and whereas the three domestic chickens were tightly clustered in another group. This clustering pattern was also confirmed by principal component analysis (PCA). The estimate of genetic identities (GI) and genetic distances (GD) using Nei (1972) also suggest comparatively more closeness of RJF with AS (an Indian native chicken breed) than those of commercial breeds WL and RC. These results support the earlier understanding that chicken was first domesticated for game purpose rather than as food

Rabies Outbreak in the Urban Area of Delhi: An Investigation Report and One Health Perspective for Outbreak Management

Rabies is a global problem and is endemic in India. Rabies cases occur throughout the year, and the majority of cases are associated with dog bites. We report a rabies outbreak investigation in an urban area of Delhi conducted by our multidisciplinary team, and its role in proactively controlling a rabies outbreak by concerted efforts and timely advice to various stakeholders using a &ldquo;One Health Approach.&rdquo; A veterinary care NGO from Delhi picked up a suspected rabid stray dog and submitted a brain sample for diagnosis of rabies, as they had received information from a resident of the locality about an unprovoked animal bite incident involving a girl (category III bite) and close contact of two more stray dogs living in the vicinity of the suspected rabid dog. The laboratory diagnosis of rabies in the suspected dog brain sample was confirmed by using Fluorescence Antibody Test (FAT). A multi-expert investigation team with expertise in medicine, microbiology, veterinary sciences, laboratory diagnosis, and public health was constituted to investigate the outbreak. The timely, adequate, and appropriate anti-rabies management initiated for the animal bite victims in this incident could prevent rabies. Proactive involvement of multiple stakeholders and knowledge attributes and practice of local residents could prevent human rabies. As there were no further reports of dog bites from the area, the chain of rabies transmission in that area could be controlled. The presented work is a classical case scenario where concerted efforts of all stakeholders achieved effective control and prevention of rabies by adopting the &ldquo;One Health approach&rdquo;