Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice on livestock traceability among cattle farmers and cattle traders in peninsular Malaysia and its impact on disease control.

The ability to trace the movement of animals and their related products is key to success in animal disease control. To ensure that a traceability system is optimized, livestock farmers and traders must have good appreciation and understanding about animal tracing. The present study examined the traceability of cattle in Malaysia vis-à-vis the domains of knowledge, attitude, and practice among cattle farmers and traders. A total of 543 farmers and traders in Peninsular Malaysia were interviewed. The results revealed that over 60% of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge and attitude about cattle movement and traceability. A lower proportion of the respondents (49%) were involved in appropriate practice that facilitated traceability of cattle. We found that the type of husbandry system and stakeholders' participation in livestock management-specific short courses were positively associated with satisfactory knowledge, attitude, and practice. A structured education and training program should be formulated to improve these domains so that the benefit of traceability becomes clear, paving the way to a successful traceability program.

Knowledge, attitude and perception regarding antimicrobial resistance and usage among ruminant farmers in Selangor, Malaysia.

The increasing public health problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been linked to the extensive antimicrobial use (AMU) in food animals. We conducted a survey among ruminant farmers in Selangor, Malaysia to assess their level of awareness on AMR, attitudes towards AMU, and determinants that influence their practices. The survey was developed in English and Malay, validated, and administered to ruminant farmers in Selangor. A total of 84 farmers (response rate of 55%) completed the structured questionnaire. They appeared to be little aware of AMR and the impact on animals and public health. Indications of inappropriate AMU include their misconception on conditions requiring antibiotic therapy and easy accessibility to antibiotics. More than 70% (60/84) of the respondents believed that all sick animals need to be given antimicrobials. Half of the farmers especially those involved in the production of small and large ruminants; namely mixed ruminant farmers (MRF) (63%, 31/49) indicated that antimicrobials do not have any side effects in animals. Sixty-four percent (54/84) of the farmers have stored antimicrobials in their farms of which the practice was more common (P = 0.02) among the MRF compared to the single ruminant farmers (SRF). Although most of the farmers felt good farm biosecurity will help reduce AMU, they were indifferent regarding using antimicrobials only when prescribed by a veterinarian and non-storage of antimicrobials for later uses. Farmers with larger herd size (>100 animals/herd) and few years of farming experience agreed more to the suggestions about their role and that of veterinarians respectively in reducing the drivers of AMR. These areas might need to be considered by advisors to inform ruminant farmers on AMR and to encourage them for prudent AMU in food-producing animals.

Reproductive Pathological Changes Associated with Experimental Subchronic Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis Infection in Nonpregnant Boer Does.

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis causes caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), which is a contagious and chronic disease in sheep and goats. In order to assess the histopathological changes observed in the reproductive organs of nonpregnant does infected with the bacteria, 20 apparently healthy adult Boer does were divided into four inoculation groups, intradermal, intranasal, oral, and control, consisting of five goats each. Excluding the control group, which was unexposed, other does were inoculated with 10(7) CFU/1 mL of live C. pseudotuberculosis through the various routes stated above. Thirty days after infection, the ovaries, uterus, and iliac lymph nodes were collected for bacterial recovery and molecular detection, as well as histopathological examination. The mean changes in necrosis, congestion, inflammatory cell infiltration, and oedema varied in severity among the ovaries, uterus, and iliac lymph nodes following different inoculation routes. Overall, the intranasal route of inoculation showed more severe (p < 0.05) lesions in all the organs examined. The findings of this study have shown that C. pseudotuberculosis could predispose to infertility resulting from pathological lesions in the uterus and ovaries of does.

Influence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection on level of acute phase proteins in goats.

BACKGROUND: Goat caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) is a chronic disease caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. However, there is paucity of data about goat's acute phase response during the course of CLA. This study was conducted to investigate the response of acute phase proteins, mainly haptoglobin (Hp), serum amyloid A (SAA) and the negative acute phase response, especially albumin after an experimental challenge of C. pseudotuberculosis and phospholipase D (PLD) in Cross bred Boer goats. RESULTS: Serum Hp concentration in goats challenged with C. pseudotuberculosis (inoculated with 1x10(9) cfu subcutaneously) showed a significant increase, 5 fold in males (0.98 ± 0.12 mg/ml) and 3 fold in females (0.66 ± 0.12 mg/ml) compared to the control (0.2 ± 0.02 mg/ml). Challenge with PLD (1 ml/20 kg body weight intravenously) also showed significant increase, 4 fold in males and females (0.89 ± 0.11 mg/ml; 0.82 ± 0.12 mg/ml) respectively compared to the control (0.2 ± 0.02 mg/ml). Albumin concentration showed a significant decrease in both treated groups compared to the control. There were no significant changes in SAA concentration between challenged and control goats. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant response by Hp to C. pseudotuberculosis infection and PLD challenge. This was supported by the early acute response in which Hp was detected before CLA lesions were developed. Therefore, it concluded that C. pseudotuberculosis and PLD can influence the level of acute phase proteins in goats.

Assessment of blood changes post-challenge with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and its exotoxin (phospholipase D): A comprehensive study in goat.

AIM: There is very little information regarding blood changes during the challenge of phospholipase D (PLD) in goats. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to study the changes in blood after the challenge with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and its exotoxin, PLD to fill in the gap of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six crossbred Boer goats aged 12-14 months were divided into 3 groups; the first group n=6 was inoculated with 1 ml phosphate buffered solution s.c. as the control. The second group n=10 was inoculated with C. pseudotuberculosis 1 × 10(9) cfu s.c. The third group n=10 was intravenous injected with PLD 1 ml/20 kg body weight. Serial blood collections were done at 1 h, 3 h, 5 h, 8 h, and 12 h then every 24 h post-inoculation for the first 30 days of the experiment. Subsequently, the blood collection continued twice a week till the end of the experiment (90 days post-challenge). RESULTS: Both C. pseudotuberculosis and PLD treated groups showed significant changes (p<0.05) in red blood cell count, hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular Hb concentration, white blood cell count, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, globulin, and total plasma proteins. Similarly, both treated groups showed significant changes (p<0.05) in alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, total bilirubin, calcium concentration, creatine phosphokinase, creatinine, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, urea concentration, lactate dehydrogenase, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time. CONCLUSION: It concluded that C. pseudotuberculosis and PLD have a negative impact on the goat's health in general reflected by all those changes recorded in the hemogram, leukogram, and the blood chemistry.

Ovarian activity in beef and dairy cows with prolonged postpartum period and heifers that fail to conceive.

The primary objectives of this study were to investigate incidence of abnormal ovarian cyclicity (AOC) and its type in dairy and beef cows with prolonged postpartum period (>90 days) and in heifers that fail to conceive. A total of 53 animals were included in the study: 17 Friesian crosses, 16 Braford crosses, eight Brangus crosses, and 12 local Kedah-Kelantan (KKX) crosses. These animals were initially checked for absence of pregnancy via palpation per rectum. Blood samples for progesterone analysis were obtained twice a week for 2 to 3 months following their spontaneous oestrous cycle, and all animals were rechecked for pregnancy at the end of the study. Progesterone analysis indicated that 33.9% of the total animals were having AOC: 18.9% with cessation of ovarian cyclicity, 9.4% with prolonged luteal phases (PLP), and 5.7% short luteal phases. The highest incidence was observed in Brangus crosses (62.5%), followed by Braford crosses (43.8%), and Friesian crosses (35.3%). In contrast, no AOC was observed in the local KKX breeds, and all of them were found to be pregnant at the end of the study. A significant difference (p < 0.05) in the incidence of AOC and its type was observed between Kedah-Kelantan crosses and the other breeds. Although not significant (p > 0.05), Friesian crosses showed a higher percentage incidence of AOC than beef cows (40% vs 36.4%), with major types being PLP (26.7%) in dairy and cessation of ovarian cycle (27.3%) in beef cows. Compared with beef heifers, beef cows showed a higher percentage of AOC (36.4% vs 28.6%) where again, cessation of cyclicity was the predominant abnormality. In conclusion, AOC reflected by abnormal endocrine pattern is a possible cause of reduction in fertility for dairy and beef cows beyond 90 days postpartum and heifers that fail to conceive.

Pathological changes in the respiratory tract of goats infected by Pasteurella multocida B:2.

Clinical and pathological changes are described in groups of five goats pretreated with dexamethasone and then infected with a large dose of Pasteurella multocida B:2 (the cause of haemorrhagic septicaemia) by the intratracheal, subcutaneous or intranasal route (groups A, B and C, respectively). In group A, two goats died (on day 1 and 4 post-inoculation); in group B three died (days 2, 5 and 14); and in group C one died (day 20). The infecting organism was recovered from the four goats that died within < or =5 days. The major pulmonary lesions included acute pneumonia, congestion, oedema and hydrothorax. Subcutaneous oedema of the lower jaw and brisket, typically seen in cattle and buffalo, was absent in goats.

Proliferation and transmission patterns of Pasteurella multocida B:2 in goats.

This report describes the proliferation and transmission patterns of Pasteurella multocida B:2 among stressful goats, created through dexamethasone injections. Thirty seven clinically healthy adult goats were divided into three groups consisted of 15 goats in group A, 11 goats in group B and the remaining 11 in group C. At the start of the study, all goats of group A were exposed intranasally to 1.97 x 10(10) CFU/ml of live P multocida B:2. Dexamethasone was immediately administered intramuscularly for 3 consecutive days at a dosage rate of 1 mg/kg. The exposed goats were observed for signs of HS for a period of 1 month. At the end of the 1-month period, 11 goats from group B were introduced into and commingled with the surviving goats of group A before all goats from both groups were immediately injected intramuscularly with dexamethasone for 3 consecutive days. The treatment with dexamethasone was then carried out at monthly interval throughout the 3-month study period. Goats of group C were kept separately as negative control. Three surviving goats from each group were killed at 2-week interval for a complete post-mortem examination. Two (13%) goats of group A were killed within 24 hours after intranasal exposure to P multocida B:2 while another two (13%) goats from the same group were killed on day 40, approximately 10 days after the second dexamethasone injection. All four goats showed signs and lesions typical of haemorrhagic septicaemia. Bacteraemia was detected in 3 goats of group A that were having rectal temperature higher than 41degrees C. The P. multocida B:2 isolation pattern was closely associated with dexamethasone injections when significantly (p < 0.05) higher rate of isolations from both groups were observed after each dexamethasone injection. Transmission of P multocida B:2 from goats of group A to group B was successful when P multocida B:2 was isolated from goats of group B for a period of 28 days. There was a strong correlation between dexamethasone injections, rate of bacterial isolation and serum cortisol level. The IgG level showed an increasing trend 2 weeks after exposure to P multocida B:2 and remained high throughout the study period.

Experimental transmission of Pasteurella multocida 6:B in goats.

Haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) is an acute disease of cattle and buffaloes caused by Pasteurella multocida 6:B. Outbreaks of the disease have been closely associated with carrier animals that transmit the organism to susceptible animals during stressful condition. This study was conducted to determine whether goats exposed intranasally to P. multocida 6:B can transmit the organism to contact goats. Thirty-six healthy local Katjang goats were divided into four groups and goats of groups 1 and 3 were each inoculated intranasally with a 1-ml inoculum that contained 1 x 10(9) CFU/ml of live P. multocida 6:B. Following the exposure, all goats of groups 3 and 4 were injected with dexamethasone at the rate of 1 mg/kg for three consecutive days. At the end of the dexamethasone treatment, goats of groups 1 and 2 were commingled but kept separate from goats of groups 3 and 4, which were commingled in another pen. Three surviving goats from each group were killed on days 7, 14 and 21 post-exposure for postmortem examination. Naso-pharyngeal mucus and heart blood were collected on swabs. Tissues from lungs, lymph nodes and tonsils were collected for bacteriological isolation and identification. Only one goat of group 3 died 6 days post-exposure showing clinical signs and lesions typical of HS. Other goats showed mild signs of upper respiratory tract infection. Goats of all groups developed acute mild pneumonic lesions, however, those treated with dexamethasone had significantly (P < 0.05) more extensive lesion scoring based on the lesion scoring system. P. multocida 6:B was isolated from the nasal mucosa and lung lesions of exposed and contact goats not treated with dexamethasone. Exposed and contact goats treated with dexamethasone carried the organism for 21 days. P. multocida isolation from heart blood was made only from exposed and contact goats treated with dexamethasone. P. multocida was isolated from the lymph node of the goat that died during the experiment.

Evaluation of bovine antibody responses to haemorrhagic septicaemia vaccine.

ELISA and immunoblotting techniques were used to examine the humoral immune response to Pasteurella multocida, in bovine sera from Indonesia and Malaysia. Elevated levels of antibody to a crude lipopolysaccharide preparation were found in vaccinated animals. In addition to the response to lipopolysaccharide, antibodies from the vaccinated cattle strongly labelled five to six of the 40 protein bands in this organism.