Aim:To determine the prevalence and diversity of Eimeria spp. in dairy cattle present in and around Guwahati, Kamrup district, Assam, India.Materials and Methods:A total of 2339 fecal samples of calves (535), heifer (641) and adult (1163) cattle were screened for 1 year present in and around Guwahati, Assam for detection of Eimeria oocysts by flotation techniques. Sporulation of the oocyst was done in 2.5% potassium dichromate solution for identification of the Eimeria species.Results:Examination of fecal samples revealed an overall prevalence of 11.97% Eimeria infection in dairy cattle of Guwahati, Assam. Age-wise, 33.2%, 45.4%, and 21.4% infections were recorded in calves (<1 year), heifer (1-3 years) and adult (>3 years) cattle, respectively. Season-wise, infection was recorded highest during post-monsoon (16.29%), followed by monsoon (15%), winter (9.44%), and pre-monsoon (7.49%) season. Seven species of Eimeria were recorded viz. Eimeria bovis, Eimeria zuernii, Eimeria subspherica, Eimeria bukidnonensis, Eimeria auburnensis, Eimeria ellipsoidalis and Eimeria alabamensis. The oocyst count per gram of feces ranged from 50 to 1500 in infected cattle.Conclusion:This study indicates that there is the prevalence of seven species of Eimeria in dairy cattle of Guwahati, Assam and mostly prevalent during the post-monsoon season.

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Aim:To know the prevalence of gastrointestinal nematode larvae (L3) in the grazing land of cattle in Guwahati, Kamrup district, Assam.Materials and Methods:Pastures were collected and examined for the presence of nematode larvae (L3) from six localities of Guwahati at monthly interval from August 2012 to July 2013. The counted larvae were then expressed as per kg dry matter of herbage (L3/kg DM).Results:Examination of pastures revealed presence of nematode larvae (L3) in pastures throughout the year which varied from 4.5 L3/kg DM in January to a maximum of 106.33 L3/kg DM in August. The L3 of Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus spp., Oesophagostomum spp., Cooperia spp., and Mecistocirrus spp. were recovered from pastures. The average pasture larval burden (PLB) was 34.75±3.48 L3/kg DM. Season-wise PLB revealed the presence of 23.89±3.01, 67.54±5.41, 26.67±1.92, and 7.28±0.89 L3/kg DM during pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter seasons, respectively. Monsoon season has significant (p<0.05) effect on PLB. However, analysis of variance of different locations with respect to season revealed that there was no significant difference but season-wise it was highly significant (p<0.01). Pearson correlation of environmental variables (temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall) with PLB revealed correlation was statistically significant with rainfall (p<0.05).Conclusion:This study reveals the presence of five nematode larvae (L3) in the pastures of Guwahati, Assam throughout the year, statistically significant during monsoon season.

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To determine the prevalence of Giardia duodenalis infection in dairy cattle present in Assam, India, a total of 1176 numbers of faecal samples of cattle comprising 535 numbers of faecal samples of calves and 641 numbers of faecal samples of heifers were screened for one year using Formol-Ether technique and zinc sulphate (33%) floatation method. The overall prevalence of infection in cattle was 17.94%. Age-wise infection rate was 13.45 and 21.68% in calves and heifers, respectively. Season-wise highest infection was recorded during monsoon (30.90%) followed by pre-monsoon (21.97%), post-monsoon (5.50%) and winter (4.45%). Infection was higher among the diarrhoeic (83.41%) than non-diarrhoeic (16.58%) animals. The prevalence of G. duodenalis infection in cattle of Assam has significance because it infects a wide range of hosts, including humans worldwide and responsible for causing diarrhoea.

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The objective of this work was to investigate the antimicrobial drug susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes strains detected from 200 samples of cattle origin by conventional bacteriology and species specific PCR. A total of 13 (6.50%) L. monocytogenes strains were detected from faeces (2.00%), offals/ internal organs (6.00%), raw meat (4.00%) and farm water (14.00%). The L. monocytogenes strains were found to be susceptible to to most of the antimicrobial drugs tested. Highest resistance to Penicillin (23.08%) followed by Ciprofloxacin (15.39%) and Nalidixic acid and Ampicillin (7.07%) was detected in L. monocytogenes strains. However, no multidrug resistant L. monocytogenes was detected in the present study. The detection of antimicrobial resistant L. monocytogenes in food animals and their environment indicates that these strains may be transferred to consumers via the food chain leading to compromise in the effective treatment of human listeriosis.