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Serum samples from 185 chickens (Gallus gallus) collected from the various slaughter markets in and around Madras City, India were examined for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii using the modified agglutination test incorporating mercaptoethanol. Antibodies (> or = 1:25) to T. gondii were found in 39.5% of sera. Antibody titers of individual sera (% in parentheses) were 1:25 (8.1%), 1:50 (10.8%), 1:100 (6.5%), 1:200(2.7%), 1:400 (4.3%), 1:800 (5.9%) 1:1,600 (0.5%), and 1:3,200 (0.5%).

Schistosomosis has been recognised as one of the major parasitic diseases of livestock and human beings. Schistosoma spindale is the major cause of visceral schistosomosis among bovines of Kerala State. Besides pathology in animals, it has been long known that cercariae of S. spindale are a common cause of dermatitis in human beings in Asia. However, detection of this disease based on coprology has underestimated the prevalence of this economically important disease among cattle of the State. An efficient diagnostic tool providing unequivocal evidence of infection in living animals is perhaps, the key to formulate and deliver control measures to the target population. It is also crucial for an enhanced understanding of parasite epidemiology. The utility of excretory-secretory proteins as diagnostic and vaccine candidates for schistosomosis has been a focus of medical research since long. There exists a paucity of information with regard to analysis of ES proteins of S. spindale and their incorporation to develop sensitive and specific serodiagnostic tool. Hence a study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of Dot-ELISA incorporating different antigens of S. spindale and to validate the test under field conditions.

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Schistosomosis and amphistomosis are the two economically important and widely prevalent snail-borne trematode infections in grazing cattle of southern India. Acute infections are symptomatically similar and difficult to detect by routine microscopy for eggs. The present study was directed towards the development of a copro-polymerase chain reaction (copro-PCR) for detection of bovine schistosome species, using custom-designed primers targeting 18S and 28S ribosomal RNA as well as mitochondrial DNA. The study demonstrated the enhanced diagnostic specificity of mitochondrial DNA markers over ribosomal RNA genes as genus-specific probes to detect schistosomes. We developed a sensitive PCR assay using primers designed from mitochondrial DNA sequences targeting the partial rrnl (16S rRNA), tCys (transfer RNA for cysteine) and partial rrnS (12S rRNA) genes of Schistosoma spindale to specifically detect schistosome infection from faecal samples of naturally infected bovines. The salient findings of the work also throw light on to the high similarity of the ribosomal RNA gene sequences of schistosomes with those of Gastrothylax crumenifer and Fischoederius elongatus, the most prevalent pouched amphistomes of the region. Further investigation has to be directed towards unravelling the complete gene sequences of 18S and 28S ribosomal RNA as well as mitochondrial DNA sequences of amphistome isolates from India.

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India has a wide range of agro-climatic zones which is highly conducive for a diverse range of vectors and canines are continuously exposed to the risk of spectrum of tick borne protozoan diseases. The brown dog tick, is widely prevalent among dogs in Kerala and there is a high prevalence of this tick transmitted and spp. infection. However, the incidence of transmitted by the same tick species had not been reported in the state since 2004. Preliminary screening of client owned dogs revealed six dogs to be positive for typical gelatin capsule shaped gamonts of within neutrophils in blood smear by microscopic examination. A PCR assay was standardized to amplify a specific 737 bp fragment of 18S rRNA gene of Phylogenetic analysis revealed closest relationship with West Indies isolate deposited at GenBank database. The present study records the molecular detection of this haemoparasite in the state, for the first time.

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