This study was conducted for diagnosis and description of the pathological changes of AIV-H5 as the causative pathogen in Iraqi broiler farms. The current study was carried out on 84 broiler farms. Infected birds were tested for detection of the AIV infection from the tracheal swabs by rapid chromatographic AIV type A and H5 test kits. In RRT-PCR 8 samples (8 farms) of Trachea were selected to be tested by this assay. Samples of trachea, lung, and spleen from the dead birds with natural AIV-H5 infection were submitted for histopathological examination. seventy-two out of 84 farms tested for AIV-Type A gave positive results, and 58 out of 72 positives for type A-AIV gave a positive result for H5 antigen in a rapid chromatographic strip. The main gross lesions in the trachea of infected birds were severe congestion and hemorrhage. In the RRT-PCR assay, 8 out of 8 samples gave a distinct positive result for this test. The microscopic histopathological examination of infected tracheas showed obvious desquamation of lining epithelium with complete loss of cilia associated with congestion of blood vessels in lamina properia. Infected lungs revealed diffuse alveolar damage and severe multifocal vascular congestion. There was deposition of fibrinous material in the splenic tissue associated with the disappearance of the germinal centers. Thus, we concluded that AIV-H5 infection causes severe pathological and histopathological changes as a result of systemic infection. The RRT-PCR assay was highly sensitive and specific for the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtypes.

Avian reoviruses can infect birds without any clinical signs of infection, the infection may associate with different manifestations including viral arthritis/tenosynovitis and malabsorption syndrome. The objective of this study was to use advance methods representing by molecular methods (RT-PCR, RT-qPCR) in the diagnosis of ARV infection in broiler breeders' flocks. A 4 flocks of broiler breeders (ROSS breed) 39 weeks age with approximately 10% morbidity rate due to Avian Reovirus (ARV). The clinical examination of 16 infected birds revealed unilateral lameness and swelling of hock joint. Blood samples were collected from wing vein of infected birds. Sera were tested for antibodies titer against ARV and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS). 5 of 16 positive samples were selected randomly for amplification by RT-PCR and RT-qPCR. The results showed in postmortem examination of infected birds, unilateral arthritis with visible joint lesions. Antibodies titer measured by ELISA in the sera of birds after 4 and 20 weeks of infection with ARV was positive and high. In RT-PCR 1 of 5 samples gave positive reaction for amplification while in RT-qPCR all five samples gave positive results for amplification in comparison with +ve and -ve control.

To explore the benefits of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), (which is an antimalarial agent that has shown effective pharmacological properties in different malarial conditions and immunological disorders, particularity in chloroquine-sensitive malaria), in the treatment and prevention of Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic because HCQ was recently advocated to minimize the pathogenicity of COVID-19. The aim of this review is to shed the light on a possible mechanism by which HCQ can defeat the COVID-19, a disease characterized by the WHO as a pandemic. Literatures from Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar were cast-off to search the literature data. The keywords used are antimalarial agent, COVID-19, Hydroxychloroquine, SARS-CoV-2 and Zinc sulfate. The review summarizes the benefits of using HCQ against COVID-19 through exploiting the ability of this antimalarial agent in ameliorating the body immunity, inhibiting and/or delaying the viral glycosylation by increasing the pH inside the host cell and also via suppressing the viral transcription and replication through the formation of a complex structure after binding with zinc. We concluded that these interfering properties of HCQ support human immunity to fight against the progression of COVID-19. We hypothesize that the therapeutic efficiency of HCQ against the COVID-19 can be enhanced by the concurrent administration of zinc sulfate.

Our study is designated to determine the impact of SB in the induction HDPs, including AvBD-10 and CATH-B1, accompanied by two different inactivated H9N2 vaccines and their effect on body performance. One hundred fifty, day-old chicks were separated into five groups (30 chicks for each, three replicates): groups A and C were vaccinated with classical avian influenza H9N2 and developed H9N2P inactivated vaccines, respectively, but groups B and D were treated with sodium butyrate (SB) by a dosage of 1gm/liter of drinking water daily till the end of the trail, and these groups (B and D) received the same type of vaccines as they given to group A and C respectively, while group E is a control group. The results illustrated that SB improved the AvBD-10 level significantly in the treated group (B and D) at 14 days in comparison with groups A and E, but without significant with group C. Whereas at 35 days, this improvement occurred distinctly in treated groups B and D. The same improvement revealed with CATH-B1 at 35 days of experiments. Moreover, the supplementation of SB improved FCR in groups B and D at 35 days of the experiment, respectively, but no influence on WG between all groups at the same age. Thus, we concluded that supplemented SB enhanced innate immunity by stimulating the induction of AvBD-10 and CATH-B1. Also, these supplementations improved FCR but did not influence WG.

Background Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is an acute or peracute contagious transboundary viral disease that mainly affects caprine and ovine and causes significant economic impact in developing countries. After two PPR virus outbreaks in 2011 and 2014, an investigation, from August 2015 to September 2016, was carried out in Northern Iraq when an increased morbidity and mortality rates were reported in the domestic and captive wild goats. In the present study, ten domestic goat farms and seven captive wild goat herds located in seven geographical areas of Northern Iraq were clinically, pathologically, serologically and genotypically characterized to determine the prevalence and potential cause of PPR virus outbreak. Results The outbreak occurred with rate of morbidity (26.1%) and mortality (11.1%) in domestic goat farms as compared to captive wild goat herds where relatively high mortality (42.9%) and low morbidity (10.9%) rates were recorded. Based on the clinical symptoms (mucopurulent nasal discharges, ulceration and erosion of oral mucosa, profuse watery diarrhea) and necropsy (hemorrhage and congestion on mucous membranes of the colon and rectum with zebra stripes lesions) results, overall, the serological test findings revealed a high frequency (47.9%) of positive samples for anti-PPRV nucleoprotein antibodies. Furthermore, the nucleoprotein (N) gene was detected in 63.2 and 89.1% of samples using conventional and reverse transcription real-time quantitative PCR assays. A phylogenetic analysis of N gene amino acid sequences clustered with the reference strain revealed lineage IV similar to the strains isolated in 2011 and 2014, respectively. However, two sub-types of lineage IV (I and II), significantly distinct from the previous strains, were also observed. Conclusion The phylogenetic analysis suggests that movements of goats are possible cause and one of the important factors responsible for the spread of virus across the region. The study results would help in improving farm management practices by establishing a PPR virus eradication program using regular monitoring and vaccination program to control and mitigate the risk of re-emergence of PPR virus infection in domestic and captive wild goats in Iraq.