Water buffalo is an indispensable livestock in Asia and other countries due to its high meat and milk quality, aside from draft power source. It adapts well to tropical climate and has significant contribution to the livestock industry, provided with improved breeding and good animal husbandry practices. Infectious diseases are hindrance to good reproductive performance of livestock, resulting in huge economic loss. In addition, most of these diseases are zoonotic, posing serious threats on human health. However, its degree of severity varies in each region and is often overlooked. This chapter reviews the common and current updates on emerging bacterial, viral, protozoal, fungal and endoparasitic pathogens that infect water buffaloes worldwide. All of the diseases directly affect the animals' health condition except for schistosomiasis where water buffalo played an important role as shedder of infection to humans. Leptospirosis, brucellosis, Bovine Tb, BVDV and fasciolosis have projected economic impact to water buffalo industry as well as its effect as zoonoses. However, the data seem underquantified since most are neglected diseases and are highly prevalent in developing countries. Further studies are needed particularly in countries where water buffalo is the major livestock than cattle to fully utilize the potential of the animal.

Objective: This study aimed to measure the anthelmintic effects of betel nut ( Areca catechu ) and neem ( Azadirachta indica ) leaf extracts against Fasciola spp. in vitro in comparison with the commercial dewormer, Albendazole, and the negative control, nutrient broth. The study determined the extract concentration that produced the highest efficacy based on the average recorded mean motility time, gross, and microscopic changes of the flukes treated with different concentrations of plant extracts. Material and Methods: The study consisted of eight treatments. Every treatment consisted of 10%, 20%, and 40% concentrations of both betel nut extract (BNE) and neem leaf extracts, positive control treatment (Albendazole-treated) and negative control treatment (25 ml nutrient broth). The motility of the flukes on all treatments was based on the established motility criteria scoring. The flukes subjected to all treatments were processed for histopathological analysis. Results: The result of the study revealed that after exposure of Fasciola spp. under 10%, 20%, and 40% extract concentrations, betel nut showed higher efficacy having the recorded mean motility time of 0.22, 0.07 min, and no movement upon contact, respectively, than Albendazole which produced mean motility time of 0.38 min. Nevertheless, the flukes treated with 10%, 20%, and 40% neem leaf extracts obtained the average mean motility time of 220, 151, and 98 min, respectively. Conclusions: The results gathered showed that 40% BNE concentration showed the highest efficacy based on the recorded mean motility time. All treatments of betel nut extract evidently showed marked changes in the gross and microscopic morphology of the flukes. However, the neem extract was ineffective in all concentrations although changes were observed microscopically. Furthermore, the nutrient broth was proven to be effective as a culture medium since the flukes remained active until 8 h of exposure.

Objective: This study assessed the applicability of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for the detection of leptospirosis among domesticated animals and sewage rats. Specifically, it evaluated the ability of LAMP to amplify Leptospira spp. targeting the 16s rRNA gene in boiled urine samples. Materials and methods: A total of 140 samples from different domestic animals were tested for the presence of the antigen. A nested-polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) protocol was used to compare and determine the sensitivity of LAMP in detecting Leptospira spp. The LAMP was also evaluated by comparing its amplification result using agarose gel electrophoresis and color change using dye. Results: Positivity rate of Leptospira spp. antigen was 29.0% (40/140) for LAMP and 9.3% (13/140) for nPCR. Also, LAMP results for gel electrophoresis and dye color change varied in some samples that may be due to the interpretation of the result in dye color change. Conclusion: Overall, LAMP is a rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective diagnostic method compared with nPCR. Also, LAMP has a potential application as pen-side screening, surveillance, and clinical diagnostic kits of infectious diseases without requiring advance equipment and skilled personnel.

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The genus Burkholderia is a diverse group of morphologically, metabolically, and ecologically gram-negative bacteria. The extent and burden of Burkholderia in the Philippines is still undetermined due to the lack of extensive research on this bacterium and the role and relationship of livestock with the bacterium. This study was conducted to detect Burkholderia sp. in the province of Nueva Ecija, the Philippines. Isolation and detection of Burkholderia sp. were demonstrated and validated by microbiological and molecular assays. Twenty-five (25) nasal swabs from goat and sheep and ten (10) soil samples were randomly collected in the area of Nueva Ecija and subjected to bacterial culture. Detection of the bacteria molecularly conducted through the amplification of the 16s rDNA and Tat-domain protein.In addition, amplified PCR products of the Tat-domain protein gene were subjected to sequencing. Results showed that one (1) isolate from goat nasal swab was positive for both the 16s rDNA and the Tat-domain protein of Burkholderia sp. Sequencing revealed 97.86% homology to Burkholderia vietnamiensis strain G4. Furthermore, sequence analysis showed 95%-97% homology to different strains of B. vietnamiensis. This is the first report of B. vietnamiensis isolated in a nasal swab of goat in the Philippines using microbiological and molecular techniques. Furthermore, high-throughput sequence analysis is recommended to further analyze the B. vietnamiensis isolate in the Philippines.