Bacteriological studies on mycoplasma infection of bovine genital tract

A total of 70 vaginal swabs were collected from cows [forty five from cows suffering from congestion and purulent vaginal discharge, and 25 from apparently healthy cows]. Also ten vaginal swabs were collected from buffaloes suffering from congestion and purulent vaginal discharge. The collected vaginal swabs were subjected to bacteriological examination for Mycoplasma pathogens and the recovered species were identified using PCR. Vaginal swabs from apparently healthy cows were negative for Mycoplasma isolation, while seven isolate were recovered from vaginal swabs of diseased cows with an incidence of 15.6%. On the other hand, five isolates were recovered from the vaginal swabs of diseased buffaloes with an incidence of 50%. All Mycoplasma isolates were identified by PCR using M. bovis, M. bovigenitalium, and M. bovine group 7 specific primers. No isolates reacted with M. bovine group 7, while 2 and 6 isolates had amplified fragments at 442 and 928 bp against M.bovis, M.bovigenitalium, respectively. The obtained data indicated that M. bovis was recovered from vaginal swabs of cows and buffaloes with an incidence of 2.2% and 10%, respectively, while the incidence of M. bovigenitalium was 11 .1% and 10%, respectively. Ureaplasma could be identified from the collected samples of cows and buffaloes with an incidence of 2.2% and 20%, respectively. Furthermore, another Mycoplasma isolate [unidentified] was recovered from buffalo samples

Influence of the administration of dried calf thymus or calf thymus extract on performance and immunity of broilers

The effect of administration of dried calf thymus [DCT] or calf thymus extract [CTE] with protein concentration 6 mg/ml was studied using 4 groups of one-day old Cobb chicks. The first group was fed on a diet contained 1% [DCT], the second group received orally 1.5 ml/bird [CTE], the birds in the third group received 0.3 ml/bird [CTE] by i.p. injection, while the fourth group was the control one. The treatments were administered daily for 20 days starting from the second day of the study. Production performance and immune parameters used were body weight, body gain feed consumption, feed efficiency, total and differential leukocytic count, total serum proteins, albumin, globulins, relative weights of thymus, bursa and spleen,% of active phagocytes in the peripheral blood, phagocytic index, HI antibody titer against NDV as well as wattle dermal testing using oil adjuvant killed NDV vaccine. Results showed that treated groups had significantly higher body weights and gain as well as better feed efficiency. The injected group had higher total leukocytic count, serum globulins and% of active phagocytes. The relative weights of bursa and thymus were significantly higher in the [DCT] group only. The obtained results augment the supposition of presence of growth factor[s] in calf thymus extract and its [their] possible involvement in modulating immunity in broilers

Campylobacter jejuni associated with diarrhea of pet animals and infants

No campylobacter organisms could be detected from apparently healthy dogs, cats or infants. On the other hand, the recovery of C. jejuni from diarrhoeic dogs [16%] was considerably higher than diarrhoeic cats [10%] and infants [4.02%]. All isolates grew at 37 C and 42 C but not 25 C, consequently, the isolates were identified as C. jejuni. It was noticed that the high percentage of isolation and incidence were in the young ages. It seems that, there is a serorelationship between all isolates by using the agar gel precipitation tests

Rapid laboratory diagnosis of Campylobacter infection using Immunofluorescent Antibody Technique [IFAT]

Comparison was made between the direct Immunofluorescent antibody technique [IFAT] and the conventional bacteriological procedures in the laboratory diagnosis of campylobacteriosis. The IFAT test was more sensitive and rapid than the culturing procedure in detection of campylobacter microorganisms in clinical specimens. However, the IFAT diagnosis was more reliable on the genus level rather than on species level due to the cross-reactivity between various species