Aim:This study was conducted to know the status of bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) antibodies in the bovines of the selected area of Uttarakhand.Materials and Methods:A total of 489 serum samples, 392 of cattle and 97 of buffaloes were randomly collected from the unvaccinated bovine population of five districts viz., Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pithoragarh, and Udham Singh Nagar and were tested by avidin biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for BHV-1 antibodies.Results:The overall prevalence was observed to be 29.03%. At district level, the highest prevalence was recorded in Pithoragarh district (40.00%) while it was lowest in district Udham Singh Nagar (16.00%). The prevalence of BHV-1 antibodies was found to be higher in unorganized dairy units (31.02%) compared to organized farms (26.51%) in Uttarakhand. Buffaloes were found to have greater prevalence (38.14%) than cattle (26.78%) while on sex-wise basis; it was found that more females (30.08%) were harboring antibodies to the virus than males (16.21%).Conclusion:The study revealed that the population in the area under study has been exposed to BHV-1 and hence prevention and control strategies must be implemented.

Significant consumption of antibiotics has generated multidrug resistance in bacteria, which is a major menace to human beings. Antibacterial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is a progressing technique for inhibition of bacterial infection with minimal side effects. Metals and delivering agents play a major role in aPDT efficiency. Herein, we report a formulation to enrich the antibacterial photodynamic therapy utilizing metallocatanionic vesicles (MCVs) against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. These MCVs were synthesized by utilizing iron-based double-chain metallosurfactant [FeCPC­(II)] as a cationic surfactant and AOT, a double-chain anionic surfactant. These synthesized MCV fractions were characterized by distinct techniques like DLS, zeta potential, FE-SEM, confocal microscopy, SAXS, and UV–Visible spectroscopy. Polyhedral-shaped MCVs with a size of 200 nm were formed, wherein the charge and size of the catanionic vesicle can be controlled by varying the mixing ratios. Both Gram-positive bacteria, i.e., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Gram-negative bacteria, i.e., Escherichia coli (E. coli), were used for aPDT using Rose Bengal (RB) as a photosensitizer (PS) encapsulated in MCVs in the presence of a 532 nm wavelength laser. The aPDT against bacterial cells was evaluated for both dark and light toxicities. Pure MCVs also exhibited good antibacterial properties; however, much enhancement was observed in the presence of RB encapsulated in MCVs under light, where eradication of bacteria (E. coli and MRSA) was achieved in 30 min. The observations demonstrated that it is the presence of metal that enhances the singlet oxygen quantum yield of RB and MCVs help in retarding self-quenching and enhanced solubilization of RB. The cationic surfactant-rich fraction shows strong adhesion toward bacteria via electrostatic interactions. The outcome of this research shows that these newly fabricated metal-based metallocatanionic vesicles were effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria using aPDT and must be exploited for clinical applications as well as an alternative for antibiotics in the future.

Aim:An experiment was conducted on day old 168 broiler chicks to study the effect of 0.4% as well as 0.2% Calotropis procera (madar) leaf powder and 0.0125% amprolium supplementation on parasitological parameters of broilers during mixed Eimeria species infection.Materials and Methods:Chicks were randomly divided into seven groups (I-VII) each with two replicates of 12 chicks. On 15th day of experiment, broilers of Group II, IV, VI, and VII were infected with 50,000 sporulated oocysts of mixed Eimeria species. To evaluate the anticoccidial effect of different feed supplements percent fecal score, percent survival, percent weight gain, performance index (PI), average oocyst production, and percent reduction in oocyst production were calculated.Results:It was observed that amprolium supplementation had maximum anticoccidial effect as it gave the best efficacy in terms of all parameters, whereas supplementation of 0.4% madar leaf powder showed nonsignificant difference with amprolium for some parameters such as percent survival, percent weight gain, and PI.Conclusion:It can be concluded that madar (C. procera) leaf powder and amprolium had comparable activity against coccidiosis. Hence, madar leaf powder may be used for the prevention and control of mixed Eimeria spp. infection prevalent in field conditions.

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