ABSTRACT
An immunocomb-based dot-ELISA, employing specially designed apparatus, was used to measure the antibody status for the three major poultry diseases--Newcastle disease, infectious bursal disease and infectious bronchitis--in single test sera. Positive samples could be classified into strong, moderate and weak positives by comparison with the colour reaction given by known strong and weak positive serum controls. The simultaneous dot-immunobinding assay gave reproducible results and allowed considerable savings on the cost of reagents compared to liquid ELISA. The antigen-coated immunocomb can be stored under refrigeration and the test can be performed rapidly under field conditions by trained personnel.
Subject(s)
Birnaviridae Infections/veterinary , Chickens , Coronavirus Infections/veterinary , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/veterinary , Newcastle Disease/blood , Poultry Diseases/virology , Animals , Antigens, Viral , Birnaviridae Infections/blood , Birnaviridae Infections/virology , Coronavirus Infections/blood , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/instrumentation , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods , Infectious bronchitis virus/isolation & purification , Infectious bursal disease virus/isolation & purification , Newcastle Disease/virology , Newcastle disease virus/isolation & purification , Poultry Diseases/bloodABSTRACT
The seasonal activity of ticks on sheep and goat populations was examined from December 2000 to November 2001 in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. This longitudinal study spread over four seasons and seven agroclimatic zones took into consideration the spectrum of species involved, the levels of infestations, the seasonal epidemiology of ticks and the associated management practices. The most common species of tick spread throughout the state was Haemaphysalis bispinosa followed by Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, Hyalomma marginatum isaaci and Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum with mixed infestations being the rule. Although the infestations were found throughout the year, they were greater during the rainy season and rainfall seemed to be the most important climatic factor affecting seasonal variation. In general, most of the small-ruminant populations carried moderate tick burdens with mixed infestations and this varied with the management practices.
Subject(s)
Goat Diseases/epidemiology , Seasons , Sheep Diseases/epidemiology , Tick Infestations/veterinary , Ticks/physiology , Animals , Female , Goat Diseases/parasitology , Goats , India/epidemiology , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Sheep , Sheep Diseases/parasitology , Tick Infestations/epidemiology , Ticks/classification , WeatherABSTRACT
Morphology and staining characteristics of Ehrlichia bovis were observed after staining with Romanowsky and Gimenez stains and fluorochroming with acridine orange. Ehrlichia bovis could be identified as elementary bodies, initial bodies and morulae in the host cell cytoplasm. The inclusions were solid and compact and resembled more closely those of E. canis (canine monocytic ehrlichia) than E. phagocytophilia or E. ondiri (bovine granulocytic ehrlichiae). The organisms usually took acidophilic shades with Romanowsky stains. Apart from morulae, the other forms sometimes resembled azurophil granules. While Gimenez staining and fluorochroming by Anderson and Greiff technique gave poor results, the organism stained well on fluorochroming with Lauer's technique.
