The design of ART policy should capitalize on the potential of ART to decrease HIV transmission through institutional arrangements that reward effective prevention programs, thereby raising the likelihood that treatment has beneficial rather than negative external effects.

Aim: The present study was undertaken to ascertain the prevalence and drug sensitivity pattern of causative agents of mastitis in and around Namakkal, Tamilnadu, India. Materials and Methods:A total of 74 milk samples were collected and bacterial isolates from 72 samples were obtained and subjected to in-vitro chemotherapeutic sensitivity test.Results: Out of 72 samples, 32 (44.44%) were found positive for Staphylococci species, 4 (5.5%) for Streptococci species, 30 (41.66%) for E.coli and 6 (8.33%) for Klebsiella species. The drug sensitivity test performed irrespective of isolates, revealed sensitivity of organisms to various antibiotics and none of the isolates were found to be sensitive to penicillin G. Conclusion:Enrofloxacin was found to be more effective antibiotic among all the tested antibiotics.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was employed to detect Taenia solium DNA in muscle lesions for validation of the meat inspection results of slaughtered pigs. Two sets of oligonucleotide primers, one targeted against the large subunit rRNA gene (TBR primers) and the other targeted against cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (Cox1 primers) of T. solium were used in this study. On reactivity in PCR test, the TBR primers and the Cox1 primers yielded products of 286 and 984 bp, respectively, in cysticercosis positive cases. Both the sets of primers were found to be highly specific, since they did not yield any PCR product in negative controls. A total of 225 pig carcasses were screened for cysticercosis by meat inspection, out of which 25 carcasses with visible cysts (16 viable and 9 degenerated cysts) were also confirmed to be positive for cysticercosis in PCR test. However, out of the 35 carcasses with suspected lesions on meat inspection, only two were found to be positive for cysticercosis in PCR test. The detection limits for both the primer sets were analyzed. The TBR primer set could detect up to 10 pg of cysticercus DNA, whereas the Cox1 primer set could detect only up to 1 ng. It is evident from the study that PCR test is an efficient tool for validation of meat inspection results and also to rule out ambiguity in carcass judgment of suspected cases of porcine cysticercosis.

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An experiment was conducted on 30 male Nellore lambs with average body weight (BW) of 15.45 +/- 0.06 kg to determine the level of the copper (Cu) supplementation in diet from inorganic and organic sources required for optimum immunity and its effect on copper dependent enzymes by allotting them randomly to five groups in completely randomized design. The dietary treatments were viz., basal diet (no Cu supplementation, BD), other four groups were offered BD supplemented with 7 or 14 ppm Cu from copper sulphate (CuSO(4)) and Cu-proteinate, respectively. The lambs were fed the respective diets at 3.5 per cent BW to meet the requirements except Cu for 180 days. The humoral immune response against Brucella abortus and chicken RBC was assessed after 90 days of feeding. The in vivo delayed type hyper sensitivity reaction against PHA-P and in vitro lymphocyte proliferation against Con A indicative of cell mediated immune response (CMI) was assayed at 180 days of feeding. At the end of experiment four lambs from each group were slaughtered for estimation of liver superoxide dismutase activity (SOD). The ceruloplasmin and RBC-SOD activities were higher (P < 0.05) in 14 ppm Cu supplemented lambs from Cu-proteinate at 90 and 180 days, while the liver SOD activity was higher (P < 0.05) in lambs fed 14 ppm Cu from CuSO(4). The STAT titres against B. abortus were higher in Cu supplemented lambs, with no effect of dose of supplementation. Lambs supplemented with Cu-proteinate had higher titers than CuSO(4) on 7 and 14 days of post sensitization. The total immunoglobulin concentration and the CMI response against PHA-P and Con-A was higher (P < 0.05) in lambs fed 14 ppm Cu-proteinae diet. The IgM level was though high in Cu supplemented lambs, no dose or source effect were observed. The study indicated that Cu dependent enzymes activity and immune response were highest and respond better against stress in lambs on 14 ppm supplemented Cu from Cu-proteinate.

The present study is the first comprehensive report on diversity, population structure, genetic admixture and mitochondrial DNA variation in South Indian draught type zebu cattle. The diversity of South Indian cattle was moderately high. A significantly strong negative correlation coefficient of -0.674 (P<0.05) was observed between the effective population size of different breeds and their estimated FIS. The genetic structure analysis revealed the distinctness of Kangayam, Vechur and Punganur cattle from the rest of the zebu breeds. The results showed the influence of Hallikar breed in the development of most Mysore type cattle breeds of South India with the exception of Kangayam. Bayesian clustering analysis was performed to assess the taurine admixture in South Indian zebu cattle using purebred Jersey and Holstein-Friesian as reference genotypes. Relatively high levels of taurine admixture (>6.25%) was observed in Punganur, Vechur, Umblachery and Pulikulam cattle breeds. Two major maternal haplogroups, I1 and I2, typical of zebu cattle were observed, with the former being predominant than the later. The pairwise differences among the I2 haplotypes of South Indian cattle were relatively higher than West Indian (Indus valley site) zebu cattle. The results indicated the need for additional sampling and comprehensive analysis of mtDNA control region variations to unravel the probable location of origin and domestication of I2 zebu lineage. The present study also revealed major concerns on South Indian zebu cattle (i) risk of endangerment due to small effective population size and high rate of inbreeding (ii) lack of sufficient purebred zebu bulls for breeding and (iii) increasing level of taurine admixture in zebu cattle. Availability of purebred semen for artificial insemination, incorporation of genomic/molecular information to identify purebred animals and increased awareness among farmers will help to maintain breed purity, conserve and improve these important draught cattle germplasms of South India.

Aim : The objective of the present study was to know the effect of dietary supplementation of varied levels of thermotolerant yeast to determine best levels for sheep diets by in vitro gas production. An in vivo study on Nellore rams was used for further evaluation of diets with three best levels of yeast (obtained from in vitro data) to determine diet with optimum yeast level for growing lambs by assessing nutrient digestibility, plane of nutrition and nitrogen balance. determine best levels for sheep diets by IVGP technique. An in vivo study was conducted on Nellore rams (39.75 0.24 kg body weight, aged 3 years) in a 4 x 4 latin square design for further evaluation of diets with three best yeast levels based on in vitro data, to determine optimum yeast level for diets of growing lambs by assessing nutrient digestibility, plane of nutrition and nitrogen balance. The rams were housed individually in metabolic cages that allowed separation of urine and faeces to evaluate digestibility of nutrients and N balance. Animals were given 10 days adaptation period followed by 7-day collection period, feed intake and refusals were recorded. During the digestibility and N balance study, feed, refusals and faeces were analyzed for dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) as per AOAC, USA, while fibre fractions like neutral detergent fibre (aNDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) were analyzed. adequately met with DCP and ME requirements as suggested by ICAR, India.Conclusions: The present study demonstrated the potential of theromotolerant yeast at 1 g/kg to 3g/kg level in improving digestibility of nutrients, intake of DCP and ME and N retention without affecting health of rams under study. Thus, incorporation of 1 g/kg level of thermotolerant probiotic yeast in complete diet for lambs appears to be beneficial for livestock producers.

The aim of the study was to investigate the physical indicators of energy reserves mobilization (ERM) viz., Body weight (BW), Body Condition Score (BCS), altered BW percentage (ABWP) and altered BCS percentage (ABCSP) levels in forty eight dairy buffaloes allotted to three dry period lengths (60 or > 60d; 46 to 60 d; and 30 to 45 d). Hybrid Napier and paddy straw, used as roughage, were supplied together with concentrate mixture; and the buffaloes were fed individually according to their requirements. The mean body weights of the group I, II and III buffaloes were 549.41 ± 4.36, 597.97 ± 6.20, and 584.54 ± 3.84, respectively. The BW, BCS, ABWP, and ABCSP levels were influenced by length of dry period, as well as pre and postpartum periods of the entire experimental study. The BW (kg) and BCS showed an increasing (P<0.01) trend from the day of drying to calving with highest (P<0.05) ABWP and ABCSP in traditional dry period group compared to shortened dry periods. Subsequently, the BW and BCS showed a decreasing trend (P<0.01) from calving to 90 days postpartum with highest (P<0.05) decrease of ABWP and ABCSP in group I. Further, 6% Fat corrected milk (FCM) production had a negative significant (P<0.01) correlation with BCS at 30d postpartum, followed by positive (P<0.05) correlation with BCS and BW at 60 or 90 d postpartum.