Tropical Animal Health and Production

Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) is involved mainly in enteric infections in cattle. This study reports the first molecular detection of BCoV in a diarrhea outbreak in dairy cows in the Central Region, Thailand. BCoV was molecularly detected from bloody diarrheic cattle feces by using nested PCR. Agarose gel electrophoresis of three diarrheic fecal samples yielded from the 25 samples desired amplicons that were 488 base pairs and sequencing substantiated that have BCoV. The sequence alignment indicated that nucleotide and amino acid sequences, the three TWD isolated in Thailand, were more quite homologous to each other (amino acid at position 39 of TWD1, TWD3 was proline, but TWD2 was serine) and closely related to OK-0514-3strain (virulent respiratory strain; RBCoV)...

Salmonellosis is a major bacterial disease causing huge economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. This study was carried out to determine the period prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella enterica in Japanese quails in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Four hundred cloacal swabs of quail birds were collected from 4 locations within Abeokuta. Salmonella was isolated from the samples using conventional methods for selective isolation of Salmonella and biochemical identification. Isolates were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction assays for the amplification and detection of Salmonella-associated virulence genes (invA and stn) using specific primers...

This study aims to evaluate the conjunctiva colour-based FAMACHA score (FS) coupled with a body condition score (BCS), haemogram and stressor hormone level estimation, in identifying post-mortem (PM)/coproscopically proven individuals wanting therapy for economically important gastrointestinal (GI) helminths, Haemonchus contortus, in the small ruminants. The incidence of haemonchosis was significantly (p < 0.05) higher (60.81%) in the ruminants with FS = 3. The H. contortus count in the animals with FS 2, 3 and 4 was 23...

Current status of resistance to benzimidazole (BZ) group of anthelmintic drugs against caprine nematodes in Central India at Amanala goat farm, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (M. P.), was systematically investigated using faecal egg count reduction (FECR) test and egg hatch test (EHT). Besides, allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) was deployed to ascertain the susceptible genotype (alleles) especially of the Haemonchus contortus. Randomly selected 30 goats, irrespective of age and sex, were divided into three groups of 10 each, to serve as treated and untreated controls...

The objective was to evaluate effects of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility and level of fresh sugarcane on intake, body fatness, carcass characteristics, and rumen kinetics and fermentation of beef cattle. Forty-eight Nellore young bulls were used in a complete randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Eight rumen-cannulated Nellore steers were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design. Two sugarcane genotypes divergent for stalk NDF digestibility (NDFD) were used...

Johne's disease (JD) is an economically important infectious disease of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). This study evaluated the differences in various hematological and biochemical parameters between healthy goats and goats with JD. Forty goats were chosen randomly from a herd endemic for JD. A complete physical examination was performed. Blood and fresh fecal samples were collected from each goat. A complete blood cell (CBC) count and a protein electrophoresis were performed...

The possible influence of the "male effect" upon reproductive outcomes of adult anestrous goats under marginal rangeland conditions and supplemented with protein-enriched Opuntia megacantha Salm-Dyck was evaluated. Reproductive variables included: estrus percentage (EST, %), estrus latency (ESL, hours), ovulation percentage (OP, %), ovulation rate (OR, units), average largest follicle at ovulation (LFO, mm), largest corpus luteum (LCL, mm), embryo number (EBN, units), and embryo implantation percentage (EIP, %)...

An on-farm study was conducted to determine the combined effects of the provision of feed and healthcare on nutrient use and growth performance of sheep during the early or late dry season. A total of 36 smallholder sheep farmers with a flock size of ≤7 was randomly selected within each of the three administrative regions in Northern Ghana. The sheep grazed on a heterogeneous natural pasture and offered crop residues as basal diet (control) or were additionally provided with a concentrate feed plus orthodox healthcare to control diseases and pests (CH) in a completely randomized block design...

Eight male Cambodian yellow cattle, initial body weight (BW) 136 ± 11.9 (±SD) kg; age 20 ± 2.5 (±SD) months, were randomly allocated to treatments in a double 4 × 4 Latin square design to investigate the effects of different levels of crude protein (CP) from sun-dried groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) foliage (DGF) on feed intake, apparent digestibility and nitrogen metabolism. All animals were fed a basal diet of rice straw ad libitum and para grass (Brachiaria mutica) at 1% of BW. The DGF was offered as a supplement at 0, 1, 2 and 3 g CP/kg BW, denoted DGF0, DGF1, DGF2 and DGF3, respectively...

In the present study, (co)variance components and genetic parameters in Nellore sheep were obtained by restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method using six different animal models with various combinations of direct and maternal genetic effects for birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), 6-month weight (6MW), 9-month weight (9MW) and 12-month weight (YW). Evaluated records of 2075 lambs descended from 69 sires and 478 dams over a period of 8 years (2007-2014) were collected from the Livestock Research Station, Palamaner, India...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of palm kernel (Elaeis guineensis) cake in diets for goats on feeding behaviors, rectal temperature, and cardiac and respiratory frequencies. Forty crossbred Boer male, non-castrated goats (ten animals per treatment), with an average age of 90 days and an initial body weight of 15.01 ± 1.76 kg, were used. The goats were fed Tifton 85 (Cynodon spp.) hay and palm kernel supplemented at the rates of 0, 7, 14, and 21% of dry matter (DM)...

An experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design to explore the replacement value of toasted guar meal (TGM) for soybean meal (SBM) in commercial broiler diets. Hypothesis was tested by including graded levels (0, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18% of diet) of TGM to replace maize-SBM on growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility, carcass traits, and serum parameters. A total of six iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diets were prepared, and each diet was fed ad libitum to 12 replicates of five chicks each from 1 to 42 days of age...

The objective of the study was to characterise genetic parameters across months for different tick species and anatomical locations in South African Nguni cattle. Tick counts were conducted monthly, over a 2-year period, on 586 Nguni cattle under natural infestation, from four herds located in different provinces of South Africa. The counts were recorded for six species of ticks (Amblyomma hebraeum, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, Rhipicephalus decoleratus and microplus (Boofilids), Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Rhipicephalus simus and Hyalomma marginatum) attached on eight anatomical locations on the animals and were summed by species and anatomical location...

The objective of this study was to determine the changes in biochemical indicators for nutritional stress from a herd of Boran and Nguni cows. A total of 40 cows (20 from each herd) were randomly selected for the study. The animals were identified according to their parities as follows: parity 1 (n = 8), parity 2 (n = 16), parity 3 (n = 8) and parity 4 (n = 8). Serum chemistry levels of glucose, total cholesterol, urea, creatinine, albumin, globulin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutylaminotransferase (GGT), leukocytes, erythrocytes, haemoglobin, packed cell volume (PCV) and platelet counts were determined for 12 consecutive months spanning across the wet and dry seasons...

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding different sources of fat during flushing period on the reproductive performance, lambing percent, and twin numbers of Afshari ewes. A total of 84 ewes (mean weight 48 ± 3 kg; age: 3-4 years) were divided into seven groups of 12 animals and received flushing-specific rations for 5 weeks. The control group just received a basic ration (non-flushing). Lipid sources were calcium salt of palm oil (CaP), pure palm oil (PO), calcium salt of flaxseed (CaFL), calcium salt of sunflower oil (CaSF), flaxseed oil (FLO), and sunflower oil (SFO)...

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of supplementing increasing levels of dried tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) leaf on the nutrition and performance of sheep fed a basal diet of barley straw. The study had four treatments, which involved supplementation of dried tagasaste leaf at 100, 200, 300, and 400 g/day. Twenty-four yearling Menz sheep (weight 17 ± 0.83 kg) were assigned to one of the four treatments in a randomized complete block design. The experiment comprised a feeding trial lasting for 90 days, a digestibility trial, and carcass evaluation using all animals...

Sugarcane press mud (SPM) is one of the potential agro-industrial by-products available in India and research exploring its utilisation in small ruminant nutrition is scanty. In this direction, the present study evaluated the feasibility of dietary incorporation of SPM at different levels in a feeding trial lasting 180 days. A total of 21 Muzaffarnagari ram lambs were randomly distributed into three groups of seven each based on comparable body weight (11.70 ± 0.29 kg) and age (3-5 months) following a completely randomised design...

To evaluate the effects of pre- and post-conception undernutrition (UN) on fetal and placental development at mid-gestation, 28 Katahdin × Pelibuey multiparous ewes were blocked by weight and assigned to the following four dietary treatments (n = 7 each): ewes fed 100% (control) or 60% of their nutritional requirements 30 days before mating (UNPre), 50 days after mating (UNPost) or during both periods (UNB). Four twin-bearing ewes were selected per treatment at day 50 post-conception and then slaughtered at day 75 of gestation to analyze their fetuses...

This study was conducted to test the efficacy of gonadotropic hormone (GnRH)-based synchronization protocols (Ovsynch, Heatsynch, and Ovsynch Plus) in buffaloes under field condition. Based on anamnesis and transrectal palpation twice at 10-day interval and serum progesterone (P4) concentration, 150 anoestrous buffaloes and delayed pubertal heifers were selected to induce oestrus using GnRH-based protocols. These selected animals were randomly divided into three groups: group I: Ovsynch (n = 50), group II: Heatsynch (n = 50), and group III: Ovsynch Plus (n = 50) regimen...

The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiology of leptospirosis in rural areas of Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba, Colombia, a convenience sampling was carried out on 13 farms. The sample size was 325 reproductive age cows, 11 canine samples, and 20 humans. The samples were subjected to MAT analysis with 11 serogroups of Leptospira interrogans sensu lato. Once the MAT results were received, urine samples were collected from 78 cows, along with 39 water samples, for bacteriological cultures and PCR for the 16S rRNA gene in L...