Dramatic Improvement in the Efficacy of Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccines by Co-administration of Echinacea

Foot and mouth disease [FMD] is a highly contagious and economically devastating disease of cloven-hoofed animals. The goal of the present study was to increase the efficacy of FMD vaccines by coadministration of Echinacea [herbal medicine for enhancing the immune system]. Two dairy farms [1 and 11] containing 1620 cows and calves were firstly monitored by nonstructural proteins [NSPs] antibody test for identifying the previous or current infections. The non-infected calves of 4 months old were selected in the 2 farms and divided into 4 groups of 90 calves. Group A was vaccinated with imported FMD vaccine [Raksha-Ovac, India] alone. Group B was vaccinated with imported FMD vaccine associated with Echinacea. Group C was vaccinated with local FMD vaccine alone and, Group D was vaccinated with local FMD vaccine associated with Echinacea. The efficacy of such vaccine either alone or associated with Echinacea were evaluated by determination of the antibody titers in the sera of vaccinated animals by ELISA and SNT. The results of NSPs antibody test revealed that 12 animals out of 820 were infected in farm I while 10 out of 800 were infected in farm II. ELISA and SNT results showed that, the protective antibody level was higher in sera of group B than group A in farm I and in group D than group c in farm II. This level was generally higher in farm I than farm II and continued until the 32[nd] and 40[th] week post-vaccination in group A and B of farm I respectively while in farm II it continued until the 20th and 24th week post-vaccination in group C and D, respectively. The association of Echinacea significantly enhanced the efficacy of both FMD local and imported vaccines and this is the first paper, to our knowledge, that described the association of Echinacea with FMD vaccines in the veterinary field with its use in treatment of infected animals

Potential Clinical Role of Propolis in Treatment of Clinical Ovine and Caprine Listeriosis

In this study, we have tested the possible use of propolis, one of the few natural remedies that exhibits potential therapeutics properties, in combination with some antibacterial drugs for treatment of clinical ovine and caprine listeriosis that was described and diagnosed. Three private sheep flocks of 485 sheep and 2 private goat flocks of 275 goats were carefully clinically examined after appearance of different forms of suspected clinical listeriosis. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological and bacteriological examinations. The infected sheep and goats were divided into groups based on the clinical form of listeriosis for field treatment. In ovine listeriosis, 73 out of 485 sheep were affected with 15.05% overall morbidity and 10.96% case fatality rates, respectively. In eaprine listeriosis, 55 out of 275 goats were affected with 20% overall morbidity rate and no case fatality rate. Encephalitic listeriosis was more prevalent among sheep while listerial abortion and septicaemic listeriosis were more prevalent among goats. Histopathologically, the brain tissues showed extensive perivascular mononuclear cuffing with microabscesses. Bacteriologicailly, L. monocytogenes was isolated from [31.09%] and [26 .9 8%] of collected samples in sheep and goats respectively. The field treatment revealed that the affected sheep and goats treated with biopropolis alone or with antibiotic combination regimen reduced the overall severity of listeriosis better than those treated with antibiotic alone [ampicillin or cefotaxime alone] or cefotaxime alternative with gentamicin and trimethoprimsuiphadimethoxine combination. Combined treatment with ampicillin-biopropolis dosage regimen was found to be the most effective