Search

Background: Aviadenoviruses affect birds, particularly chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and pheasants, which have total 12 serotypes. Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) caused by aviadenovirus was has been reported in many countries worldwide. The diseases was first reported from Assam in 2017. Although there is increasing reports of the occurrence of IBH-HPS in the broiler population of North Eastern India, but its prevalence at different geoclimatic condition and at various seasons have not been carried out. Under these circumstances, the present study was envisaged to analyse the seroprevalence status of Fowl adenovirus infection in some broiler rearing districts of Assam. Methods: For the present study, blood samples were collected from 12 different districts of Assam including all agroclimatic regions during the period from June, 2016 to May, 2017. Association of various factors like age, season and health status with the prevalence of the affected birds were also studied. Indirect ELISA was performed by using commercially available FAdV ELISA kit. The results obtained were analyzed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. Result: A total of 460 serum samples were screened, of which 213 were found positive for FAdV antibodies with a sero-positivity of 46.38 per cent. FAdV antibodies were observed in all age grouped birds. Highest (64.28%) positivity was recorded in the birds of 4th week of age, followed by above 4th week (63.47%), 3rd week (32.03%), 2nd week (27.36%) and 1st week (10.0%). Health status-wise 68.97 percent sero-positivity was recorded in the affected flock, where as 32.51 percent in apparently healthy flock. Season-wise, highest (61.53%) sero-positivity was recorded in post monsoon season followed by monsoon (49.00%), winter (32.49%) and premonsoon (32.39%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Illegal migration of pigs/piglets from Myanmar to Mizoram is a common practice to meet the local demands. The migrated animals are suspected as potential carrier of various microbial pathogens. The present study was conducted on isolation, identification and molecular characterization of major bacterial pathogens (Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Haemophilus parasuis, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida) in pigs illegally migrated from Myanmar to Mizoram. Methods: A total of 209 rectal swabs and 209 nasal swabs were collected from apparently healthy migrated pigs during October 2018 to April, 2019. All the samples were processed for PCR based detection of target bacterial species followed by isolation and identification by bacteriological techniques. The bacterial species were further confirmed by BD Phoenix automated bacterial identification system and selected virulence genes of the bacterial species were determined by specific PCR assay. Result: By species specific PCR, 110 samples were found to be positive for selected bacterial species, of which 20 (9.57%), 1 (0.478%), 86 (41.15%), 2 (0.956%) and 1 (0.478%) were A. pleuropneumoniae, B. bronchiseptica, H. parasuis, M. hyopneumoniae and P. multocida, respectively. A total of 52 bacterial strains were isolated and identified, of which 11, 1, 39 and 1 were A. pleuropneumoniae, B. bronchiseptica, H. parasuis, M. hyopneumoniae and P. multocida, respectively. Virulence genes were detected in A. pleuropneumoniae and H. parasuis isolates. Based upon the published literatures, this is the first ever report of isolation and identification of pathogenic A. pleuropneumoniae and H. parasuis in pigs in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot and mouth disease (FMD), one of the most contagious diseases of animals, affects different host species including wild animals. Asymptomatic FMD recovered animals may remain as carrier, which may be threat to other healthy animals. Hence, it is necessary to monitor the carrier status of the FMD recovered animals to effectively prevent further spread of the disease. Out of all the seven serotypes of FMD, O serotype is most commonly found in livestock. Therefore, in the present study, we chose to detect serotype 'O' in oropharyngeal fluid (OP) and to quantify cytokines, viz. IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-2. A total of 30 OP fluids and 30 blood samples were collected from 10 animals (1 in-contact healthy animal) for 3 months post infection. FMD O serotype could be detected in all the animals (100%). The RQ values were found to be 0.014 to 63.118 and 0.162 to 46.889 for IL-1α and IL-1β genes respectively, while insignificant RQ values were obtained for IL-2. In the second and third months, two animals showed down regulation for IL-1α gene, while IL-1β and IL-2 genes were down regulated in 7 animals and in all 10 animals, respectively for all the three months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ground-state electronic properties of CeOs4As12 have been investigated within the framework of full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. The effect of exchange correlation functional treated with GGA depicts a zero band gap semiconducting behavior, which turns to open an energy gap of 0.04 eV with inclusion of mBJ potential in the calculation. The presence of strong hybridization of Ce-f electronic states with conduction electrons predominates overall electronic profile, where the effects of spin polarization and localized electrons are also dominated. The brittle nature with the presence of ionic type of interatomic bonding has been observed for this material, whose hardness is also comparable to analogous Ce-filled skutterudites. The sample alloy possesses high reflectivity as evident from optical response, and the absorption coefficient increases dramatically beyond the visible spectral range that determines its optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]