A Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based detection of foot and mouth disease in District Faisalabad, Pakistan during the Year 2016

Foot and mouth disease is an economically devastating disease of livestock that mainly effect cloven-hoofed animals i.e. sheep, goat, cattle, pig, buffalo, deer etc. The aim of this study was to determine the serotypes circulating in the region during 2016. Sampling was done from different outbreaks initially on the basis of clinical signs and later reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed for the confirmation of FMDV genome. Out of total 72 samples, 65 were found positive which were then serotyped into type O (n=30), Asia1 (n=19) and A (n=5). Some samples (n=5) were found positive for more than one serotype that were subjected to reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay (RT-LAMP) for serotype determination

Biological and genotypic characterization of the Newcastle disease virus isolated from disease outbreaks in commercial poultry farms in northern Punjab, Pakistan

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious disease of many avian species and is particularly responsible for devastating disease outbreaks in commercial poultry flocks in Pakistan that incur huge economic losses to the national poultry industry annually. Despite implementation of an extensive vaccination program for poultry birds, the disease appears in an endemic form in commercial broiler and layer poultry farms. This study was conducted to identify the prevalent velogenic NDV strain responsible for disease outbreaks in commercial poultry farms in Punjab, Pakistan. The NDV strains isolated from pathological specimens through inoculation in embryonated chicken eggs were characterized biologically through the intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI), and genetically on the basis of the fusion (F) protein cleavage site. Among these, six NDV isolates showed an F protein cleavage site motif (112RRQKRF117) and an ICPI value ranging between 1.5 and 1.88, both are characteristics for velogenic strains of NDV. In addition, phylogenetic analysis based on a partial sequence of the F protein gene clustered these isolates within class II, genotype VII and specifically within genotype VII-e. This is the first report that demonstrated the presence of such NDV strains in commercial poultry farms in northern Punjab of Pakistan