No abstract

Bovine mastitis is a disease that concerns animals' welfare and increases the economic production losses. Bacterial agents such as Staphylococcus species are the main causative agent of bovine mastitis. This bacterial agent expresses some inflammatory cytokines that might enhance the cell-mediated, which may promote the pathogenesis of mastitis. The objective of the current study was to investigate the bovine innate immune response circulating levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. A total of 10 mL of milk specimens were collected randomly from 100 clinically mastitic cows, and another 20 clinically healthy cows were considered as a control group for the California Mastitis test. The microbiological cultures of milk specimens were performed. The interleukins (ILs)that involved IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 were detected using the ELISA test for the evaluation of the pro-inflammatory bovine mastitis pathophysiology. The results of this study showed that Staphylococcus aureus detection was in 31.2% of mastitic milk and 8.7% of non-mastitic milk specimens; and the coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was detected in 14.8% and 18.7% in the mastitic and non-mastitic milk specimens, respectively. The IL-6 level was shown significantly higher (P<0.05)in the specimens of mastitic milk (194±12.8 pg/mL) compared to the non-mastitic milk (31±2.9 pg/mL). In conclusion, the elevated level of expression of IL-6 cytokine in the milk of cows with mastitis suggested that IL-6 might be used as a potentially suitable biomarker for early bovine mastitis diagnosis

The emergence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella in poultry meat and products presents a serious global public health problem. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the isolation rate of Salmonella species in eggs and chicken meat randomly sampled from some selected retail outlets in Sokoto metropolis, and to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of the isolates. Bacteriological culture and biochemical characterization, followed by the antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method were employed. Out of the 300 samples comprising 150 eggs, and 150 chicken meat samples analyzed, 20 (13.3 %) were positive for Salmonella among chicken meat, while 11 (7.33 %) were positive among the egg samples. Based on the sampling locations, the frequency of isolation of Salmonella was highest in Sokoto south and Wamakko areas with 17.5 % each for the chicken meat, while Sokoto south area with 10.0 % had the highest among the egg samples. The results of the antimicrobial susceptibility test showed 15 isolates (75 %) for chicken meat being 93.3 %, 86.7 %, 60.0 % and 60.0 % resistant to penicillin, oxytetracycline, Sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and erythromycin respectively, while all 11 (100 %) isolates from egg swab culture showed resistance to one or more of the antimicrobials tested. However, a high proportion of isolates were susceptible to neomycin (93.3 %). The Salmonella isolates also exhibited multidrug-resistance against four of the antimicrobials tested that included erythromycins, Sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim, penicillin, and oxytetracycline. It could be suggested that the rational use of antibiotics needs to be adopted in commercial poultry farming system of Sokoto to curtail the spread of these drug-resistant pathogens and its concomitant hazard to human health.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) constitutes a serious impediment to the attainment of the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to ensure and promote healthy living among humans and animals. Studies have identified the vulnerability of conflict-affected populations to exposure to antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Resource-limited countries like Afghanistan have suffered for long periods from armed conflicts, and this situation is exacerbated by the already poor or dilapidated healthcare delivery services. The country has suffered human and economic losses due to antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections driven by the prolonged war, as well as a limited number of antimicrobials and frequent under dosage. Most reports point to the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics as the main reason for building up resistant strains. There is a need for more efforts toward identifying the major contributors and enlightening the public on the importance of AMR. This review aimed to provide a critical appraisal regarding the current situation of AMR in Afghanistan.