Contents for April 2017

The Common rat snakes (Ptyas mucosa) control the rat in paddy field so it is also called farmer’s friend. The present study was conducted on the heart, lung, trachea, kidney and liver of Common rat snake (Ptyas mucosa) of about 2.5 years of age. The heart was found secured in the pericardial sac and two aortas originated cranially consisting of left and the right. Lung consisted of highly vascular anterior portion and avascular posterior portion called air sac. Both the kidneys were highly lobulated and elongated. Right kidney was closer to the head than the left one. The trachea had complete ring. The liver was elongated and no distinct separate lobes were present instead the surface of the liver appeared lobulated. These studies will be helpful to wildlife veterinarians in disease control regimes.

The current study was carried out with an aim to determine the epidemiological factors responsible for mastitis in dairy cattle and generating epidemiological data on this important disease in an organized cattle farm in Jammu. Screening was done on 100 randomly selected animals. A questionnaire was framed and completed with detailed management practices, including the risk factors like age, parity and lactation number along with the management practices. The samples were screened using Modified California Mastitis Test (MCMT), Somatic Cell Count (SCC). Management practices and detailed questionnaire revealed the high risk groups. The prevalence of clinical and subclinical practices was found to be 43% (SCM: 41% and CM: 2%). Further, the highest prevalence of sub clinical mastitis was found in cattle belonging to groups; 8 to 10 years age (40%); in 5th to 7th month lactation stage (36%) and 3rd to 6th parity (38.8%) whereas clinical mastitis showed highest prevalence in 2-7 year old (2.4%); 5th to 7th month lactation stage (4%) and 3rd to 4th parity (2.7%) groups. A significant (p<0.05) difference in Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) was observed between control and subclinical and clinical cases. MCMT proved to be an important screening test in the field conditions. Managemental practices and risk factors contribute to the occurrence of disease. Preventive and control measures need to be adopted strictly to reduce the disease in animals.

Evaluation of sperm quality has been mainly based on subjective parameters included in the spermiogram. Results of these parameters have been correlated with fertility but this relationship is not always true. Recently, for bull fertility assessment, sperm DNA integrity assessment has been proposed as an important index. Sperm DNA integrity has got an important role in success of fertilization process and fetal and offspring development. DNA integrity assessment has got a pivotal role in assisted reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), besides sperm quality assessment and putative fertility predictor. Various techniques for assessment of sperm DNA integrity have been proposed. Using various sperm DNA integrity assays for detection and characterization of DNA fragmentation will aid in improving semen storage procedures by identification of various protocols which are less likely to be associated with DNA damage. Moreover, sperm DNA assays may help in screening bulls that produce good freezable semen with reasonable fertility.

A 5 year old Simmental cow was presented with a primary problem of difficult in parturition (Dystocia). This was the second calving for the cow. One foetal hind limb was seen protruding from the vulva and three limbs were palpated in the cervix on vaginal exploration. Vulval discharges were observed visually. A caesarotomy was performed on the standing animal from the left flank which led to the exteriorisation of live male twin calves. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of twinning in the Simmental cow in Zambia.

In the present study, 198 Swiss albino male mice were exposed to daily oral doses of deltamethrin and lindane to study the effect of low dose chronic exposure to reproductive organs of male mice. Mice were exposed for 15, 30 and 60 days Doses of pesticides were selected on the basis of maximum residual limits (MRL) as well as the residues of pesticides found in various food commodities in the previous studies. Thus the three doses used in the study were 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg bwt/day for deltamethrin and 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 mg/kg bwt/day for lindane. The highest dose of deltamethrin and lindane used in this study was 1/40th and 1/200th of the LD50 of these two pesticides, respectively. After the completion of experimental trial, the mice were sacrificed and testicular tissues were collected and preserved in neutral buffered formalin till analysis. The sections of tissues (testes) were taken and stained with haematoxylin and eosin to visualize the histopathological changes caused due to exposure of mice to the pesticides. The histological examination revealed the degenerative changes i.e. vacuolar degeneration of the spermatogenic cells, presence of necrotic cells and edema inside the seminiferous tubule and aspermatogenesis at all the dose and duration of exposure to each of the pesticide. The changes were more or less dependent upon the dose of pesticide as well as the duration of exposure to these pesticides. This was further confirmed by the residues of pesticides detected in these vital tissues through gas chromatography (GC) and confirmation with gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS).

The indigenous cattle breeds are considered much more resistant to various ailments, and therefore, possibly requiring lesser medication compared to exotic or crossbreeds. The objective of the present study was to compare efficacy of the general therapeutics of uterine prolapse in indigenous breeds. The present study reports six cases of recurrent prolapse in non-pregnant indigenous cows with multiple parity. The treatment included epidural anaesthesia, cleaning and reposing of prolapsed mass, setting followed by progesterone injection and supportive therapy inclusive of antibiotics, analgesics, antihistaminic and I/V fluid. Incidence of recurrence of uterine until 72 hour and period of recovery from the day of administration of treatment till at least 50% involution of the organs, ascertained by rectal examination,we re recorded. It was concluded that general therapeutics of uterine prolapse is equally successful in indigenous cows as well with recovery period and incidence of recurrence being much less than crossbreeds.

A case of dystocia due to dog sitting posture with lateral deviation of head in a mare and its successful management through fetotomy is reported here.

In present scenario the two most common diseases complexes affecting the dairy cattle worldwide are mastitis and infertility, since both are multifactorial in origin, they increase the culling rate and loss in the profitability of a farm. Other than being a trending animal welfare issue, it has a grave effect on quantity and quality of milk. The reproductive performance of dairy animals is influenced by several factors, and various evidences indicate that mastitis is one of the determinants. The multifaceted nature of both mastitis and reproduction makes it difficult to understand their relationship in detail, thus only a retrospective approach is appraised rather than a controlled clinical study. Thus in this review, information regarding the effects of clinical mastitis on reproductive function and the most probable mechanisms by which mastitis affects reproduction in dairy animals is explained.

Postpartum hemoglobinuria is a non-infectious haemolytic syndrome of adult cattle and buffaloes, a potent thread to these animals in India and Pakistan affecting considerable number of animals every year during advance pregnancy and early lactation. It is characterized by intra venous hemolysis, hemoglobinuria, severe anemia and death due to anemia and anoxia. The exact pathogenesis of this problem is not fully understood. The exhaustive studies have been undertaken and are still in progress to elucidate the exact cause of intravascular hemolysis which is the cause of hemoglobinuria in this disease. However, phosphorus deficiency in high yielding animals during early stage of lactation is widely believed to be associated with postpartum hemoglobinuria. A variety of risk factors have been reported to be associated with this disease in different part of world. Hematology and urinalysis are most commonly adopted diagnostic tools for the PPH. Moreover, Lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity may be used a more specific diagnostic indicator of PPH. Various studies have been suggested that administration of sodium acid phosphate along with supportive therapy with anti-oxidants and other important minsrals, can be used as a therapeutic protocol for management of PPH.

This descriptive-analytic study was carried out in Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh) slaughter house during 12 months period from Feb. 2014 to Jan. 2015. The 1175 carcasses were observed and inspected. The overall prevalence of hydatid cyst was (40%). Among which the carcass contaminated with hydatid cyst in liver is (56%), while (81%) cyst found in lung. The prevalence was highest (52%) and lowest (30%) in winter and autumn season respectively.