Susceptibility to homologous reinfection with Fasciola gigantica in goats.

Goats previously infected with 100 viable Fasciola gigantica metacercariae and treated with rafoxanide (Ranide, 7.5 mg/kg) at week 4 were not protected against subsequent homologous challenge with 250 metacercariae administered two weeks later. Reinfection resulted in more severe hepatic lesions and a higher percentage of flukes recovered as compared with primarily infected controls. However, the size of flukes originating from the second (challenge) infection was considerably reduced. The plasma enzyme activity of aspartate amino-transferase (AST), glutamate dehydrogenase (GD) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SD) increased to a similar extent with primary and challenge infections. However, the plasma antibody response to F. gigantica was less pronounced in reinfected goats.

The effects of Ipomoea carnea on goats and sheep.

The clinical signs and lesions of Nubian goats and Desert sheep orally dosed with fresh and dry leaves and stems of Ipomoea carnea at 2.5, 5 and 10 g/kg/day were studied. The signs of Ipomoea poisoning were inappetence, depression, weakness of the hind limbs, dyspnea, staggering, and pallor of the visible mucous membranes. The main lesions were focal necrosis and fatty vacuolation of centrilobular hepatocytes, accumulation of fibroblasts in hepatic portal tracts, degeneration or necrosis of the cells of the renal proximal convoluted tubules, hemorrhage in renal cortices, in renal medullas and in cardiac muscle fibers, focal pulmonary edema, and emphysema and straw-colored fluid in serous cavities. Increased serum aspartate amino transferase and ammonia concentrations, and decreased concentrations of total protein, calcium and magnesium in the serum of Ipomoea-poisoned animals were detected. Hematological changes indicated the development of normocytic normochromic anaemia.

The anthelmintic efficacy of Artemisia herba-alba against Haemonchus contortus infection in goats.

The anthelmintic activity of the powdered shoots of Artemisia herba-alba was investigated in experimental haemonchosis in six Nubian goats which had been infected with single doses of 800 to 1,000 infective Haemonchus larvae. The clinical signs of caprine haemonchosis included inappetence, dullness and soft faeces and were correlated with the pathological findings. None of these changes were observed in four of the six goats following the treatment with 2, 10 or 30 g of Artemisia shoots. This successful therapy was supported by the absence of eggs in the faeces, of adult worms in the abomasum at necropsy and of significant lesions in the tissues of the goats and return of the concentrations of serum ammonia, sodium, potassium, total protein and creatinine and of the activity of aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) to normal. In two goats, treated with either 10 or 30 g of Artemisia shoots, egg production was not completely suppressed and a few adult Haemonchus worms were found in the abomasum.

The pathology of naturally-occurring bovine schistosomiasis in the Sudan.

The gross and histopathological lesions of naturally-occurring bovine schistosomiasis in the Sudan are detailed. Out of 61 animals examined, 53 were found infected with Schistosoma bovis, showing lesions in their livers, intestinal tracts and other organs. Apart from granulomas, periportal inflammatory infiltration, fibrosis and pigmentation of Kupffer cells, livers of infected cattle revealed peculiar lesions in the form of "nodular sclerosis", medial hypertrophy of portal veins and lymphoid nodule and follicle formation around parasites. In the intestines, variable manifestations of catarrh, with eosinophilic infiltration, granulomatous reaction and vascular changes, were observed. Pancreatic schistosomiasis was common and some animals had lesions in their lungs and lymph nodes. Urogenital lesions, rectal and colonic polyps, congestive splenomegaly, gastro-oesophageal variaces and Symmer's clay-pipe stem fibrosis of the liver were not seen in cattle. The haematological and serum protein findings in infected animals were included. The findings were related to the lesions observed and the need for detailed study of functional disturbances in bovine schistosomiasis is indicated.