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The present investigation included a detailed description of the factors directly associated with PPRV infection in Pakistan. A total of 1,056 suspected serum samples were analyzed for the presence of antibodies to PPRV with no history of vaccination against PPR. The samples were collected from sixty two (62) suspected outbreaks from twenty five (25) major regions of the country. Samples were collected from the animals suffering from diarrhea and showing severe respiratory signs. Competitive enzyme linked immuno-sorbant assay (cELISA) was performed to detect the presence of antibodies in the serum against PPRV. Findings suggested that the overall PPR antibody sero-prevalence recorded in sheep was 54.09% as compared to 44.15% in goats. Geography, species, sex, age and season are the major factors associated with PPRV infection. Among various age groups, the animals showed the higher prevalence (67.48% and 52.28% in sheep and goats, respectively) at >2 years as compared with the other age groups. The area-wise highest sero-prevalence was in Sindh province which was 55.10%. It was highest in the plains of Punjab and Sindh province and also in hilly areas (AJK, northern areas and northern Punjab). These findings may be correlated with variations in the sheep and goats husbandry practices within different geographic regions and the topography of different areas. The study also indicated the scenario of antibodies circulation in the population and proving that PPR is now becoming endemic and is one of the major emerging TAD in Pakistan.

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Background: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in Pakistan and causes huge economic losses. This work focus on the Landhi Dairy Colony (LDC), located in the suburbs of Karachi. LDC is the largest Buffalo colony in the world, with more than 300,000 animals (around 95% buffaloes and 5% cattle, as well as an unknown number of sheep and goats).

Anion-exchange membranes (AEM) with high ion content usually suffer from excessive water absorption and dilution effects that impair conductivity and mechanical properties. We herein report a novel ether containing a cross-linking strategy without adopting high ion-exchange capacity (IEC). The ether-containing cross-links and the quaternized structure are created simultaneously by introducing an ether-containing flexible hydrophilic spacer between two 1,4-diazabicyclo­[2,2,2,2]­octane or DABCO molecules; the resultant bi-DABCO structure was further employed to react with chloromethylated polysulfone. The long spacer with the ether moiety may benefit the hydroxide ion transport, and the cross-links will control the swelling and water absorption of the AEM. The two ether groups in the long spacer of the cross-links will also shield the DABCO cation from OH– attack due to an electron-donating effect. The prepared membranes exhibited an improved conductivity of 31 mS/cm (at 25 °C) at a comparatively low IEC (1.08 mmol/g) with a rational water absorption and low swelling ratio (95.0 and 27.1%, respectively); they also displayed an enhanced alkaline stability in 1 M NaOH aqueous solution at 80 °C for 150 h. The density functional theory study and physical characterization after the alkaline treatment further confirm the better chemical stability of the cross-linked membrane over its counterpart. Our work presents an effective strategy to balance AEM conductivity and robustness.