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One hundred and twenty-nine faecal samples, collected over a period of 1 year, from 96 diarrhoeic and 33 non-diarrhoeic lambs aged between 0 and 3 months were examined for presence of rotavirus and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Group A rotavirus was detected in 24 (25%) of diarrhoeic lambs using sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and ribonucleic acid-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (RNA-PAGE). Statistically no significant relation was found between rotavirus infection and age of the lambs. The prevalence of group A rotavirus was more related to meterological changes than age of the lambs as the number of diarrhoeic lambs with rotavirus infection was found to increase in spring months during which temperature and humidity ranged between 7.34 and 28.9 • C and 34.28 and 82.58%, respectively. The migration pattern of ovine rotavirus RNA in PAGE was typical of mammalian group A rotaviruses. O25, O26, O30, O43, O75, O76, O102, O113, O132, O153 and O157 E. coli serogroups were isolated from diarrhoeic lambs positive for rotavirus infection while as O157 serogroups of E. coli were isolated from diarrhoeic lambs without rotavirus infection. O8, O21, O43, O82, O104, O113, O120, O127, O132 and O139 serogroups, recovered from diarrhoeic faecal samples with or without rotavirus, were positive for congo red dye binding activity. O88, O113, O157 and O168 serogroups were isolated from non-diarrhoeic faecal samples out of which O88 and O168 were congo red positive. None of the lambs without diarrhoea carried rotavirus infection. Group B rotavirus infection commonly reported in diarrhoeic lambs outside India was not detected in any of the faecal samples screened.

There is a growing trend to produce lipase from microorganisms owing to their commercial demand in various industries. Bacillus cereus has been shown to have extracellular lipase activity and high growth rates. This study explains the purification of microbial lipase to homogeneity by dialysis, precipitation and chromatography. The purified enzyme with 56kDa relative molecular mass exhibited the highest activity at 60°C (95.56U/ml) and pH 7 (124.50U/ml). The enzyme activity was highly promoted in the presence of K+ (136.17U/ml) and Zn++(133.07 U/ml), and SDS did not affect the enzyme activity, whereas in the company of triton X100 activity of lipase is maximum (23.90 U/ml). The enzyme activity was enhanced by using almond oil (120.00 U/ml) as a substrate. We deduce cheaper protocols for producing extracellular lipase via simple laboratory techniques, which could be a good insight for its production at the commercial level. Keywords: Lipase; Bacillus cereus; chromatography; enzyme activity; purification.