Pestivirus infection in sheep and goats in Northern Saudi Arabia

Gastrointestinal parasite infections of ruminant animals cause economic loss to farmers and low nutritional value to consumers. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in domestic ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats and the relationship between the species, sex, age, location, season and breed of the respective animals within the period of May to October 2021, amongst pastoralists in three local government areas of Bauchi Western Agricultural Zone, Bauchi State, Nigeria. A total of 938 faecal samples were examined using floatation and sedimentation techniques. Out of the 938 samples examined, 756 (80.60%) were infected. The results from the faecal examination revealed the presence of eighteen (18) gastrointestinal parasites namely; Fasciola, Cooperia, Balantidium, Oesophagostonum, Bunostonum, Haemanchus, Tricharis, Coccidia, Strongyloides, Trichstrongylus, Chabertia, Nematodirus, Dicrocoelium, Ostertasia, Moniezia, Paramphistomum, Schistosoma and Marshallagia. The most prevalent helminth encountered was Fasciola 369 (39.34%) while schitosoma 2 (0.21%) was the least prevalent parasite. Sokoto Gudali, Uda and Kano brown breeds of cattle, sheep and goats, harboured more gastrointestinal parasites than their breed counterpart which are the White Fulani breed of cattle, Balami and ‘Yankasa breed of sheep as well as Red Bauchi breeds of goats respectively. Statistically, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) with respect to the species of animal but no statistical difference (p>0.05) with respect to sex, age, season and breed of the animals. Pasture dressing, rotational grazing, and strategic deworming programmes in combination with control of intermediate hosts will lead to more effective control of the parasite as helminthiasis causes great economic losses to livestock farmers and the nation’s Gross Domestic Products. Furthermore, future investigations are recommended to evaluate the economic impact of gastrointestinal parasites in the study area.

A cross-sectional seroprevalence study was conducted among flocks of sheep and goats in three agricultural zones of Borno State. Seven hundred sixty-eight small ruminants (384 sheep and goats each) of both sexes (282 males and 486 females) of different age groups from 90 flocks were randomly selected for blood collection and related epidemiological data. A commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA; I.D. Vet) was used to test the sera samples for the presence of both phases I and II antibodies against Coxiella burnetii infections. The overall seroprevalence in sheep and goats was 10.9% (44/384) and 12.0% (46/384). There was no statistically significant association between the two species of the animals tested and the infection rates of coxiellosis (P = 0.734, OR= 0.924, 95% CI= 0.578–1.408). Bivariate analysis showed that female animals of all species tested were more seropositive for antibodies to Coxiella burnetii than males. There was a statistically significant association between the sex of both sheep and goats tested (P = 0.032, OR = 0.439, 95% CI = 0.204–0.9470) and (P = 0.022, OR = 0.434, 95% CI = 0.208–0.903). Age of sheep and goats were not statistically significant (P = 0.199, OR = 0.577, 95% CI = 0.247–1.346), (P = 0.304, OR = 0.670, 95% CI = 0.311–1.444. There was no statistically significant association between the breeds of sheep and goats tested (P= 0.861, OR= 0.787, 95% CI= 0.315–1.964), and (P= 0.742, OR= 0.736, 95% CI= 0.264–2.050). The study indicates that seroprevalence of coxiellosis was high in the studied small ruminant population, particularly among female sheep and goats, and can be considered a potential risk for both susceptible animals and humans in the study area

This study examined early lambing-kidding, prolificacy and twinning in Nigerian breeds of sheep and goat using questionnaire administered by enumerators. Sheep and goat farmers in the study area were interviewed. At the time of the study, Nigeria had only 21 States plus the Federal Capital Territory, with each States having different number of local government areas. A total of four hundred forty nine (449) Local Government Areas were used in this survey. Five villages were randomly sampled from each Local Government Area and five questionnaires were administered to five randomly selected farmers in each village. Some breeds of sheep like Yankasa, Uda and Balami were frequent among the states in the north. Red Sokoto and sahel goat were frequent among the states in the north.The Red Sokoto goat (4.43%) kid earliest than WAD goat (4.29 %) and Sahel goat (2.01%). WAD sheep (7.18%) was found to be most prolific, followed by Balami (5.17%) and Yankasa (3.88%) while it was lower in Uda (3.45%).The Sahel goat (5.49%) was the most prolific, followed by WAD (4.64%) and Red Sokoto goat (3.86%). Among the breeds of sheep, WAD sheep had more occurrence of twinning (6.82%) than the other breeds of sheep – Uda (2.57%), Yankasa (2.55%) and was very low in Balami sheep (1.21%).With the breeds of goat, WAD goat (3.31%) had more occurrence of twinning followed by Red Sokoto (2.88%), while Sahel goat had the lowest occurrence of twinning (1.14%).From this study, a successful breeding programme and plan could be made where selection is carried out among these breeds to increase the frequency of these desired traits in Yankasa, WAD sheep and Red Sokoto, Sahel, WAD goat. There is a need for a repeat of this work in this year 2016, where results obtained can be compared with the results obtained in this study.Key words: Breeds, Kidding, lambing, prolificacy, twinning.

The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to detect the presence of small ruminant lentiviral infections in Kosovo and estimate the serological prevalence for the year of 2016 . A total of 5.272 sheep and 435 goats were tested using a commercially available indirect enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for Maedi-Visna/Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis, giving an overall individual sero-prevalence in sheep of 34.8% (95% confidence interval 31.8% to 38.0%), and a flock prevalence of 85%, and in goats an overall individual sero-prevalence of 15.6% (95% confidence interval 7.2% to 25.6%) and flock prevalence of 35%. Sero-prevalence in sheep was higher in the South and West of Kosovo, whereas in goats was higher in the East and South. There were no statistically significant differences in sero-prevalence between sheep in different age groups <2 year to 4 year. There were statistically significant differences between the age groups in goats: chi square 25.74 (3d.f.) with P-value <0.0001. Increasing sero-prevalence observed in goats up to 4 years old with a sharp drop in goats older than four years highlights the need for further investigation based on clinical impact and genotype characterization. While retained sero-positive sheep in the population beyond 4 years old may suggest mild clinical impact of small ruminant lentiviral infections in Kosovo sheep.

The aim of the study is to identify and substantiate the breed of sheep and goats for collecting milk for the purpose of producing yogurt. The milk of 14 breeds of sheep and 10 breeds of goats was considered for the production of yogurt. A statistical analysis is given and the choice of breed of goats and sheep for the selection of milk for the production of live yogurt is substantiated. Live yogurt is a product with live microorganisms for 14 days, in this case, the viability of bacteria is 28 days when stored in refrigerated conditions, in plastic cups sealed with a foil lid, using special equipment. Probiotics stimulate the production of immunomodulatory substances by beneficial intestinal microflora, as well as normalize cholesterol and glucose levels in the blood, bind and remove some toxic substances from the body. Research in this direction will open up many hidden potentials of fermented milk products based on sheep and goat milk and live microorganisms. There are prerequisites for the creation of new original recipes for functional dairy products and these studies are of the greatest scientific interest. The laboratories of the Kazakh Research Institute of Processing and Food Industry also used their own living microorganisms – probiotics for the preparation of consortiums based on lactic acid and bifidobacteria. Milk was collected from 10 ewes and goats from each breed from June to August 2021. Milk sampling was carried out in the morning milking. Milk indicators were studied using standard methods in the laboratory "Biotechnology, quality and safety of food products" of the "Kazakh Research Institute of Processing and Food Industry" LLP.

In the conditions of the increase in the cost of feed and energy resources, the development of sheep and goat breeding is becoming more and more relevant in Ukraine to ensure the population's food needs and increase the export potential of animal husbandry in general. The article describes the results of a statistical data study for 2010-2021 regarding the state and main trends in sheep and goat breeding development in the Carpathian Economic Region of Ukraine. An analysis of the dynamics of sheep and goat breeding in farms of all categories in terms of live weight by regions of the region, the number of sold livestock for slaughter, sales volumes, the number of sheep in farms of all categories, the volume of lamb and goat meat production, as well as the volume of wool production was carried out. The specific weight of each oblast of the region in the number of livestock and the volume of sheep and goat breeding was determined. Based on the study of statistical data, the amount of sheep and goat breeding per person in the regions of the Carpathian region of Ukraine, as well as the productivity of animal breeding, was determined. It was established that the population of sheep and goats in Ukraine and the regions of the Carpathian region increased by 11.5% during the studied period. The highest growth dynamics were observed in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. Accordingly, the volume of breeding and sales of sheep and goats increased. However, wool production in the Carpathian region decreased by 26% during the studied period. The largest share of the population, the amount of sheep and goats that grew and sold in the region, is concentrated in the farms of the Transcarpathian region - about 66-70%. A relatively high level of the ratio of the volume of cultivation to the number of sheep and goats is observed in the farms of the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. According to the study's results, the highest level of marketability was determined in the farms of the Transcarpathian region. Based on the analysis of the indicators of the development of sheep and goat breeding in the regions of the Carpathian region of Ukraine, a set of organizational and economic measures regarding the growth of livestock and the volume of sheep and goat breeding in the farms of the region is proposed and substantiated.

A One Health approach to investigating the health and prevalence of zoonotic pathogens in snow leopards, sympatric wildlife, domestic animals and humans in the South Gobi Desert in Mongolia

The objective of this study was to characterize the milk yield (MY) and milk composition of relevant sheep and goat breeds raised around the world to be used with nutrition models for diet formulation and nutrient balancing. A 2-step approach was used. First, a database developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization was used to identify relevant breeds (i.e., frequently raised) by comparing the occurrence of transboundary breed names across countries. We selected transboundary breeds that occurred more than 3 times and other relevant breeds obtained from the specialized literature that had milk production information (e.g., MY, days in milk, and milk fat, protein, and lactose). The majority of sheep breeds were classified as nondairy (76%) because they lacked milk production information. Karakul and Merino accounted for up to 2.4% of sheep breeds raised around the world, whereas the other individual breeds accounted for less than 1%. In contrast, nondairy breeds of goats accounted for 46.3% and of the remaining 53.7%, Saanen, Boer, Anglo-Nubian, Toggenburg, and Alpine accounted for 6.5, 5, 4.4, 4, and 3%, respectively, of the transboundary breeds. Second, a database compiled from published studies for the selected sheep (n = 65) and goats (n = 78) breeds were analyzed using a random coefficients model (studies and treatments within studies as random effects). For sheep breeds, the average and SD were 1.1 ± 0.3 kg/d for MY, 6.9 ± 1% for milk fat, 5.4 ± 0.4% for milk protein, 5 ± 0.3% for milk lactose, 17.7 ± 1.4% for milk total solids, and 1,073 ± 91 kcal/kg of milk energy. Lacaune had the greatest MY compared to Comisana and Tsigai (1.65 versus 0.83 and 0.62 kg/d; respectively, P < 0.05), but milk components were not different among breeds. For goats breeds, the average and SD across breeds were 1.7 ± 0.6 kg/d for MY, 4.2 ± 0.9% for milk fat, 3.3 ± 0.4% for milk protein, 4.4 ± 0.4% for milk lactose, 12.7 ± 1.1% for milk total solids, and 750 ± 75 kcal/kg of milk energy. Alpine had similar MY to Saanen (2.66 versus 2.55 kg/d, respectively; P > 0.05), but greater (P < 0.05) than other breeds. The Boer breed had the greatest milk fat, protein, lactose, and total solids than several other breeds, leading to the greatest milk energy content (907 kcal/kg). Because there are many factors that can alter MY and milk composition, averages provided in this study serve as guidelines, and nutritionists must obtain observed values when using nutrition models.

A Comparison Between Polymerase Chain Reaction and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Methods for Detecting Leptospira in Equine Recurrent Uveitis

Border disease virus (BDV) is a pestivirus that causes considerable economic losses in the sheep industry due to its effect on breeding and health. This study's goal was to determine the seroprevalence of pestivirus infection, the ratio of persistently infected (PI) animals, and risk factors associated with the disease in sheep flocks between 2019-2020. To this end, 460 blood serum samples collected from eight sheep flocks were examined using commercial Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) test kits to determine the presence of antibodies (Ab) and antigens (Ag) against pestiviruses (bovine viral diarrhea virus, border disease virus). Risk factors associated with pestivirus infection were statistically evaluated in terms of significance in the logistic regression model according to epidemiological data and information obtained from flock owners. Individual seropositivity was analyzed by Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs) for associated responses. The overall apparent animal level seroprevalence was estimated to be 24.57% (95% CI: 20.85-28.7). The overall true seroprevalence was calculated to be 25.51% (95% CI: 21.65-29.60). The rate of positive sheep in each flock varied between 8.33-57.14%. The ratio of PI sheep among the 460 animals tested was found to be 0.43%. The relationship between the age groups was statistically significant (p-value:0.0002&lt;0.05; χ2:13.15). Management type, age, the presence of cattle in the farm, landscape and the status of other clinical diseases were identified as important risk factors associated with individual pestivirus seropositivity. The results of this study indicate that it will contribute to the creation of national control eradication and monitoring plans and the development of strategies and that the potential risk of sheep as a pestivirus reservoir, especially for cattle that use common pastures, should be considered in future studies.

A two-month-old lamb showing signs of severe neurological disease characterized by muscular tremors, hypermetria, and motor incoordination was submitted to the Veterinary Pathology Laboratory - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. At necropsy, the major findings were a marked reduction of the size of the cerebellum and bilateral dilatation of the lateral ventricles. Microscopically, areas of cellular disorganization in the cerebellar cortex, reduction of the granular layer of cerebellum associated with decreased density of cells, and the presence of large cytoplasmic vacuoles in the molecular layer were observed. Neurons of the gray matter of the brain and macrophages of the mesenteric lymph nodes stained positively by the immunohistochemistry test using the monoclonal antibody 15C5 against Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus. Taken together, those results are consistent with a pestivirus infection, either Border Disease Virus (BDV) or BVDV.

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic and foodborne intracellular parasite capable of inducing congenital infections, stillbirths and abortions in humans and animals, globally. The consumption of undercooked or raw mutton is "one of the vital risks" for acquiring toxoplasmosis: an asymptomatic condition in healthy persons, while life-threatening in immunodeficient individuals like "HIV/AIDS" patients. The current study has multiple objectives: to optimize a newly ELISA kit for Sheep, to find out the seroprevalence of ovine toxoplasmosis of two ecological zones of the Punjab, Pakistan through LAT and newly Optimized Sheep ELISA kit, to do the comparison of efficacies of various tests (LAT with newly Optimized ELISA kit and newly Optimized ELISA kit with commercial ELISA kit) and to determine the different meteorological parameters as the risk factors for T. gondii infection in sheep. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 sheep sera, 200 were collected from sheep raised on open grazing system by local farmers in the adjoining areas of Civil Veterinary Dispensaries (CVDs) of range-ecological zone i.e. tehsil Kot Chutta (Dera Ghazi khan). Similarly, the remaining 200 were collected from agro-ecological zone i.e. tehsil Sharaqpur (Sheikhupura), to evaluate the comparative efficacy of LAT with optimized ELISA kit and newly optimized ELISA kit with commercial ELISA kit. The newly ELISA kit optimized against a commercial ELISA kit was found to have 100% sensitivity, 97.6% specificity with 98% Positive Predictive Value, 100% Negative Predictive Value, Cut off value = 0.505, 28.28 LR+, 0.0104 LR-, and 2719.23 DOR. Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis was detected significantly (P < 0.01; χ2) higher in Sharaqpur (44.5% by LAT; 35.5% by ELISA) as compared to that in Kot Chutta (39.5% by LAT; 31% by ELISA). The highest seroprevalence was seen in the sheep of the 1-2 years age group (P < 0.01; χ2), whereas the lowest in the oldest animals (≥ 4 years). Investigation of meteorological data of both the regions reveals that the zone with higher seroprevalence has relatively higher rainfall, higher humidity, lower environmental temperatures, and higher altitude as the critical factors, potentially behind the significant difference seen in seroprevalence level. The partial correlation of both tests (newly optimized ELISA kit and LAT) was 0.991 at maximum temperature in Sharaqpur while it was 0.981 in Kot Chutta. A novel significant correlation was found between the meteorological parameters (relative humidity, minimum, maximum, and average temperatures) divided into yearly units of both the ecological zones, and year-wise seroprevalence (birth years of age-wise groups) of the corresponding regions. We hypothesize that such environmental conditions increase the risk of toxoplasmosis in grazing sheep, owing to a more favorable environment for coccidian oocyst survival. The ELISA kit optimized in this study will be helpful for the detection of seroprevalence of ovine toxoplasmosis in other ecological zones of Pakistan as well as of any other country in the world. More studies are recommended involving regions from other ecological zones of Pakistan to further explore the seroprevalence of ovine toxoplasmosis and to ratify the novel correlation of meteorological parameters with seroprevalence.

Giardia duodenalis is a common zoonotic intestinal parasitic protozoan and sheep are among its hosts; however, limited information is available on sheep kept in large-scale housing. The Hu sheep is a first-class protected local livestock breed in China. In this study, we investigated the seasonal dynamics of G. duodenalis infection in Hu sheep and the environmental contamination of large-scale sheep farms. We collected 474 fecal samples and 312 environmental samples from Hu sheep on a large-scale sheep farm in Henan, China. The prevalence of G. duodenalis was determined by nested PCR targeting the β‑giardin (bg) gene. The assemblages and multilocus genotypes (MLGs) were investigated based on analyses of three genetic loci, i.e. bg, glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), and triosephosphate isomerase (tpi). To detect mixed infections of different assemblages, assemblage A/E-specific PCRs were performed to amplify the tpi gene. The prevalence of G. duodenalis infection in sheep was 17.9% (81/474) and the positivity rate in environmental samples was 0.96% (3/312). Genetic analysis revealed the presence of two assemblages (assemblages A and E), with assemblage E being detected in both fecal and environmental samples, and assemblage A detected only in fecal samples. A total of 23 MLGs were obtained in fecal and environmental samples, all of which belonged to assemblage E. These results indicate the seasonal dynamics of G. duodenalis infection in sheep and environmental contamination on large-scale housing sheep farms and provide an important reference for the prevention and control of G. duodenalis on large-scale housing sheep farms.

Meat quality of designated South African indigenous goat and sheep breeds

Circulation of small ruminant lentivirus in endangered goat and sheep breeds of Southern Italy