Investigation of the Pathological and Biochemical Characterizations in Naturally Infected Calves with Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)

All cloven-hoofed animals are susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) which is highly contagious viral illness. FMD is answerable for serious economic losses in Egypt. Despite the primary control approach being annual mass vaccination campaigns using polyvalent inactivated vaccinations, failure of vaccination has been according in several cases. The study was conducted on fifty native breed calves up to one year of age from both sexes, thirty calves suspected to be infected with FMD, and twenty clinically healthy calves were considered as controls. A total of fifty samples from organs (heart- epithelial tissue) were gathered from calves suspected to be FMD infected obtained from September 2021 to March 2022 in Sharkia and Menofeia governorates / Egypt. The current study was designed for the isolation of FMDV using BHK-21 cells. Molecular identification, through the extraction of Viral RNA, and RT-PCR were used to test samples for the FMDV virus. Diseased animals have changes in body temperature, respiration rate, and heart rate compared to controls. Moreover, murmur sounds were observed during auscultation of the heart. A hematological study revealed significant reductions in the RBCs count, hemoglobin concentration, and PCV% with leukopenia and lymphopenia in the diseased group. The serum cardiac troponin, lipase, non-esterified fatty acid, beta hydroxyl butyric acid, glucose, AST, ALT activities, and blood urea nitrogen were considerably enhanced in diseased animals. But serum insulin and amylase were significantly reduced in diseased calves. Histopathological examination of calves revealed extensive lymph histiocytic myocarditis and necrotic lesions in the pancreas, liver, and kidney. In conclusion, the early stages of FMD in calves is characterized by myocardial cell injury, elevation of blood cardiac troponin, and necrotic pancreatitis represented by atrophy of pancreatic glands and islets of Langerhans

High Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG and RNA among Asymptomatic Blood Donors in Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia

The gold-standard approach for diagnosing and confirming Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This method, however, is inefficient in detecting previous or dormant viral infections. The presence of antigen-specific antibodies is the fingerprint and cardinal sign for diagnosis and determination of exposure to infectious agents including Corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19). This cross-sectional study examined the presence of SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) among asymptomatic blood donors in Makkah region. A total of 4368 asymptomatic blood donors were enrolled. They were screened for spike-specific IgG using ELISA and COVID-19 RNA by real-time PCR. COVID-19 IgG was detected among 2248 subjects (51.5%) while COVID-19-RNA was detected among 473 (10.8%) subjects. The IgG frequency was significantly higher among males and non-Saudi residents (p p = 0.047, χ2 = 3.95), and non-Saudi residents (p = 0.001, χ2 = 304.5). The COVID-19 IgG levels were significantly higher among the RNA-positive donors (p = 001), and non-Saudi residents (p = 0.041), with no variations with age or blood group (p > 0.05). This study reveals a very high prevalence of COVID-19 IgG and RNA among asymptomatic blood donors in Makkah, Saudi Arabia indicating a high exposure rate of the general population to COVID-19; particularly foreign residents. It sheds light on the spread on COVID-19 among apparently healthy individuals at the beginning of the pandemic and could help in designing various control measures to minimize viral spread