Necropsy of gastrointestinal tract of 125 freerange chickens from a subtropical and humid zone of northwestern India revealed four nematode spp. (Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum, Capillaria spp. and Cheilospirura hamulosa) and four cestode spp. (Raillietina cesticillus, Raillietina echinobothrida, Raillietina tetragona and Amoebotaenia cuneata) The overall prevalence of the helminth parasites was 72.0%. Amongst various helminth species encountered in the region, A. galli emerged out as the most prevalent, followed by H. gallinarum, R. cesticillus and R. echinobothrida. The impact of helminthic infections on body weight gain in growing chickens was investigated. One hundred growing chickens, aged 40 days were randomly assigned to two groups (treated and untreated controls) of 50 birds each. The birds in treated group were given fenbendazole at 7.5 mg per kg body weight in drinking water, while the birds in other group served as untreated controls. At the end of the 90 days of the field trial, the mean body weight gain of untreated controls was 1232.2 ± 7.28 g (13.7 g/day) compared with 1617.6 ± 5.43 g (18.0 g/day) in the treated group. It was associated with a significantly (P \ 0.05) higher mean worm burden (32.92 ± 6.12) in untreated controls than the treated group (2.46 ± 1.14). The prevalences of helminthic species and their impact on body weight gain in growing backyard chickens have been discussed.

A total of 1920 faecal samples of sheep (960) and goats (960) of stationary flocks of the middle agroclimatic zone of Jammu province were examined, out of which 67.24 % animals were positive for helminthic infections. The different nematodes observed were strongyles (50.1 %), trichurids (12.1 %) and Strongyloides spp. Two peaks of EPG (the first in May and the second in August) were recorded during the 1 year study period. Infection was significantly (p \ 0.05) higher in young (73.22 %) as compared to adults (61.25 %). Females showed a higher infection (73.33 %) as compared to males (61.14 %). The effect of prevailing agro-climatic conditions on the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths has been discussed.

Epidemiology of paramphistomosis in sheep and goats was studied using field and abattoir samples at Jammu, India. Abattoir examination revealed that 36.2 % of sheep and 30.9 % of goats were positive for paramphistomosis. The mean worm counts (±SEM) were 23.5 ± 5.7 in sheep and 19.9 ± 3.5 in goats. On coprological examination, 16.3 % of sheep and 13.6 % of goats were found positive for paramphistomosis. The mean egg counts (±SEM) were 4.4 ± 2.6 in sheep and 3.6 ± 2.1 in goats. Season was found to have a significant (p \ 0.05) influence on the prevalence of paramphistomosis. A higher percentage of animals were found positive in rainy and post-rainy seasons as compared with summer and winter seasons. The distributions of eggs and adult flukes were significantly (p \ 0.01) different among seasons. The prevalences observed according to age and sex of sheep and goats were not significant. The study conclude that the late summer months are major risk period for paramphistomosis in the pasture grazing sheep and goats and the administration of an efficient anthelmintic in May-June and September-October should be strongly recommended to reduce the infection and minimise the perpetuating financial losses to animal owners in the region.

Goat warble fly infestation (GWFI) is a subcutaneous myiasis caused by larvae of Przhevalskiana silenus, an insect belonging to the order Diptera. The diagnosis of GWFI is challenging in the early larval instars (L1 and L2) as they are occult under the skin and hair coat causing prolonged economic loss in form of meat and hide damage. This necessitates early diagnosis for disease control at herd level and its prophylactic management to prevent economic losses. Hypodermins, a class of serine proteases from Hypoderminae subfamily have been used as serodiagnostic antigens for the past four decades for diagnosis of warble fly myiasis. In this study,the immunodominant antigen Hypodermin C (HyC) from P. silenus has been recombinantly expressed in E. coli and immunogenic characterisation of expressed protein was done. The protein shows hallmark residues in conserved cysteine and catalytic triad typical of serine proteases along with similar profile of immunoreactivity towards Hypoderminae infestation. The present study reports an optimised indirect-ELISA based on recombinant HyC derived from P. silenus for early diagnosis of GWFI. The optimised indirect ELISA provides a sensitive and specific immunodiagnostic for mass surveillance of the GWFI with diagnostic specificity and sensitivity of 96% and 100%, respectively and not showing any cross reactivity against other important parasitic and bacterial diseases of goats. This study presents the first report of indirect ELISA based on recombinant Hypodermin C antigen derived from P. silenus for the serosurveillance of goat warble fly disease.

Examination of 3,960 goats brought from six districts of Jammu province and slaughtered at Jammu abattoir from July 2005 to June 2006 revealed 47.22% prevalence of larval stages of warble fly (Przhevalskiana silenus Brauer, 1858) in goats. Highest prevalence was recorded in Udhampur (56.44%) and lowest in Doda district (13.49%). Classification of the study area into four zones based on height (meters above sea level), viz., zone I (300-325 m asl), zone II (325-800 m asl), zone III (800-1,500 m asl), and zone IV (>1,500 m asl), revealed significant (p < 0.01) difference in infestation among animals of zone II (71.68%), zone III (40.12%), and zone IV (22.41%). However, animals of zone I did not reveal any infestation. Statistical analysis in relation to age showed significant (p < 0.01) difference among different age groups, i.e., <1 year (2.81%), 1-3 years (51.17%), and >3 years (43.16%). Breed-wise analysis also showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher infestation rate among Bakerwali (51.51%) goats as compared to Beetal (42.59%). But no significant difference was recorded among male (47.81%) and female (46.82%) animals. The overall mean larva count (L1, L2, and L3) was observed to be 14.72 ± 0.34, ranging from 4 to 72. It was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in animals of zone II (22.20 ± 0.21) as compared to goats of zones III (14.21 ± 0.41) and IV (7.73 ± 0.90). Age-wise analysis of mean larva count also showed significant (P < 0.05) difference between animals of 1-3 years (16.25 ± 0.37) and >3 years of age (13.18 ± 0.40). Mean larvae count in relation to sex and breed did not reveal any significant difference. First-instar larvae (L(1)) were recorded from May to mid-September, second larval stage (L(2)) from mid-September to mid-December, and third-stage larvae (L(3)) from mid-December to February. However, No larvae were recorded from March to April, which is suggestive of pupation period in this region. Thus, it is concluded that adult fly is active in April to June. The results further confirmed that internal life cycle of P. silenus is subcutaneous and no migration of larvae occurs. This is the first report from India, based on slaughter house study on the prevalence and biology of goat warble fly infestation. It will help in devising suitable prophylactic and eradication program to check the economic losses rendered by adult fly.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the in vitro efficacy of different concentrations of chloroform extract obtained from the aerial parts of Artemisia absinthium in comparison to amitraz on adults, eggs and larvae of the dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus using the adult immersion test (AIT), egg hatchability test (EHT) and larval packet test (LPT), respectively. Five concentrations of the extract (1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 %) with three replications for each concentration were used in all the bioassays. A control group was established (water + dimethylsulphoxide) together with a positive control group (amitraz), with three repetitions each. In AIT, the mortality rates were 0.0, 13.3, 16.7, 33.3 and 93.3 % in concentrations of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 %, respectively, and the variation was significant (p=0.0151). The LC50 (CI) and LC95 (CI) values were calculated as 8.793 % (8.217-9.408) and 34.59 % (29.71-40.26), respectively. The egg production was reduced by 6.6, 6.6, 18.3, 42.5 and 85.1 % in the concentrations of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 %, respectively, and it was statistically significant (p=0.0274). In EHT, hatching was completely inhibited at 5, 10 and 20 % displaying 100 % ovicidal action while at the concentrations of 1.25 and 2.5 %, the inhibition rates were 20 and 60 %, respectively. In LPT, the extract caused 100 % mortality of larvae in the concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 % after 24 h while at the concentrations of 1.25 and 2.5 %, the mortality rates were 54.3 and 96.7 %, respectively. The LC50 (CI) and LC95 (CI) values were determined to be 1.11 % (1.099-1.121) and 2.37 % (2.328-2.423), respectively. The results show that the extract of A. absinthium has acaricidal properties and could be useful in controlling R. sanguineus which is an efficient vector of pathogens both in dogs and humans.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the changes in oxidative stress parameters on experimental infection with in Swiss albino mice. The mice were divided into four groups viz., group I-IV, each group comprising of 15 mice. Group I mice served as healthy control. In Group II mice, oocysts @ 10/os were administered, mice of group III were given dexamethasone @ 30 µg/ml in drinking water whereas group IV mice were given dexamethasone @ 30 µg/ml along with oocysts @ 10/os. Significant changes were seen in oxidative stress parameters which included significant increase in LPO and decrease in levels of SOD, CAT and GSH in liver and intestine in group IV mice at 10th DPI when compared to others indicating an important role played by free radical induced oxidative stress in the development of infection in mice which was clinically characterized by loss of body condition, profuse bloody diarrhoea and peak oocyst shedding intensity occurring at 10th DPI.

An epidemiologic study was carried out to investigate the prevalence and analysis of risk of Cryptosporidium infection in lambs in Jammu district. Faecal samples of 120 lambs of different age groups viz., \1 month, 1-3 months and 3-6 months were assessed. Cryptosporidium oocysts were identified by using modified Zeihl Neelsen technique. Statistical analysis showed that infection rates were significantly higher in lambs of \1 month age group (65 %) than other two age groups (p \ 0.05). Similarly, cryptosporidial infection rates were significantly higher in diarrhoeic (54.41 %) than in non diarrhoeic lambs (34.61 %). Winter records highest prevalence (73.33 %) which varied significantly. Sex wise higher prevalence was observed in females (51.56 %) as compared to males (39.28 %). The relationship between intensity of infection and various epidemiological factors showed that highest intensity was observed in lambs of 0-1 month age group, having diarrhoea, in winter season.