An epidemiological investigation was carried out on common blood parasites (protozoa and rickettsia) in clinically suspected (febrile, anorectic, non responsive to antibiotics therapy) cattle attended at District veterinary hospital of Sirajgong. Total 60 cattle were examined for blood parasite (protozoa and rickettsia) infection. Giemsa's stained were used on peripheral blood smears of suspected cattle. These slides were examined microscopically during September to October, 2004, of which 42 cattle (70 % of the total examined cattle) had Anaplasma infection (either Anaplasma marginale or Anaplasma centrale or both) and 2 cattle (3.3% of the total cattle) had Babesia infection but negative for other blood protozoal infection.

Rotaviruses are considered as a major cause in the etiology of diarrhea in young calves worldwide and it causes calf morbidity, mortality and substantial economic losses in the dairy industry. This study reports the determination of the disease burden and first evaluation of associated risk factors of rotavirus infection in calves in Bangladesh. A cross sectional survey was carried out for the approximation of prevalence and associated risk factors of rotavirus infection in neonatal calves in South-eastern part of Bangladesh. From July 2015 to May 2016 a total of 411 calves under the age of 6 weeks from 210 dairy farms were selected using probability sampling scheme. Rotavirus infection was diagnosed from calf fecal samples using a commercial ELISA kit. Different farm and calf level factors were tested by mixed effect multivariable logistic regression models to differentiate factors significantly contributing to the high burden of rotavirus infection in calves in the study area. Overall prevalence of rotavirus in calf feces, irrespective of diarrheic and non-diarrheic, was estimated as 5.11%. Among the hypothesized risk factors, samples from winter season showed higher odds of having the infection compared to summer (OR=6.04). Likewise, higher odds ratios were observed in: >3 weeks of age group compared to ≤ 3 weeks (OR=2.87), taking of first colostrums after 30 minutes to 2 hours of birth in contrast to within 30 minutes (OR=13.92), and finally, calves from 3rd to 4th parity compared to 1st to 2nd parity (OR=6.79). Enteric diseases are a vital health problem in calves that interrupts production benefits with reduced weight gain and increased mortality rates and moreover it has potential to spread. Therefore, it is imperative to determine the disease burden and responsible risk factors to execute effective preventive measures among the population at higher risk. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2019, 5(2): 107-116

Bovine rotavirus A (BRVA) is a frequent causative agent of diarrhea in neonatal calves. Accurate and rapid diagnosis is crucial to prevent calf mortality from BRVA induced diarrhea. Currently, variety of diagnostic methods are being used to detect BRVA from calves’ feces: antibody-based rapid test and ELISA, and molecular-based RT-PCR and RT-qPCR. The aim of the study was to evaluate the accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) of the rapid test (Immunochromatography), ELISA, and RT-PCR assays, using RT-qPCR as the gold standard, in detection of BRVA in diarrheic calves’ fecal samples. One hundred (n=100) clinically diarrheic fecal samples were tested with four different diagnostic tools. The percent of samples positive by rapid test, ELISA, RT-PCR and RT-qPCR was 10%, 16%, 17%, and 33%, respectively. The agreement between different assays was 75% to 99%. The highest agreement was observed between ELISA and RT-PCR assay (99%). The lowest agreement was recorded (75%) between rapid test and RT-qPCR. The sensitivity of the rapid test, ELISA, and RT-PCR were 30%, 49%, and 52%, respectively when compared to the reference test (RT-qPCR), whereas specificity was 100% for all assays. In conclusion, none of the frequently used diagnostic tests showed a satisfactory level of sensitivity to identify BRVA in calves’ feces. Therefore, the use of a more sensitive rapid test should be used to identify infected calves in field conditions in order to prevent calf mortality from rotaviral diarrhea.

The present study was aimed to determine the sero-prevalence of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in chickens in two selected areas; Lohagara and Satkania Upazila of Chittagong district. The study was conducted from July to October 2004 that was based on Rapid Serum Plate Agglutination (SPA) test. The serological test was done on 400 samples which revealed prevalence of Mycoplasma gallisepticum were 53% in broiler and 73% in layer at Lohagara, where as 46% in broiler and 60% in layer at Satkania Upazilla.

No abstract

Brucellosis is a neglected endemic zoonosis in Bangladesh and has a significant impact on public health and animal welfare of dairy farming as well as dairy farm economics. A cross‐sectional study was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of and risk factors for brucellosis in dairy cattle in the Chittagong metropolitan area (CMA) of Chittagong, Bangladesh. We collected serum samples (n = 158) from six randomly selected dairy farms in the CMA between February and November, 2015. The Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and a competitive ELISA (cELISA) were used as the screening and confirmatory tests respectively. Farm level and animal level demographic and risk factor data were collected using a questionnaire. The risk factors were analysed using a multivariable logistic regression with random effects. The overall seroprevalences of antibodies against brucellosis in cattle were 21.5% (34/158) and 7.6% (12/158) based on parallel and serial interpretation of the two tests respectively. Our results revealed that 20.3% (32/158) samples were positive using the RBPT and 8.9% (14/158) were positive using the cELISA. The within‐herd seroprevalence ranged from 10% to 26.3% and 5 to 20.7% using the RBPT and cELISA tests respectively. The odds of seropositivity were significantly higher in lactating cows (OR: 2.59; 95% CI: 1.02–6.55), cows producing less than 2 litres of milk (OR: 29.6; 95% CI: 4.3–353.8), cow producing 2–12 litres of milk (OR: 4.8; 95% CI: 1.1–33.4) and cows with reproductive disorders (OR: 3.2; 95% CI: 1.2–10.1). About 7.6% (12/158) and 1.3% (2/158) of cattle were found to be infected with acute and chronic brucellosis respectively. Based on these results, we suggest that cows that have reproductive disorders and are producing little milk should be prioritized for brucellosis screening in CMA. The screening tests should be used to control brucellosis in cattle in order to protect animal welfare, human health and to minimize the economic losses.

No abstract

The present study aimed at diagnosis of pneumonia in Black Bengal goat by clinical symptoms and the association of different animal and management factors with the occurrence of pneumonia in goat. The study was carried out on a total number of 40 Black Bengal goats with respiratory disorder that were brought to the Upazila Veterinary Hospital, Boalkhali during June to August 2004. In the study the patients showed high rise of body temperature, serous, mucoid or mucopurulent nasal discharge, cough, moist and crackles rales on auscultation of the lung were diagnosed as pneumonia. It was observed that the age group of 1-2 years, male goat and animal with poor body condition score are in greater risk to pneumonia. On the other hand among management factors free range (night shelter only), muddy floor with poor drainage system, having a feeding pattern of grazing and group or community based grazing pattern were showed susceptible to pneumonia.