Efficacy of clinically used anthelmintics against toxocariasis of buffalo calves in Bangladesh.

Toxocariasis is a paramount parasitic disease having > 50% prevalence among newborn buffalo calves in Bangladesh. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of clinically used anthelmintics and their subsequent effect on the haematological parameters and body weight in buffalo calves in commercial buffalo farms in coastal region. Thirty-two buffalo calves below 3 months of age with clinical Toxocara infection had been selected and treated with albendazole (ABZ), levamisole (LVM) and ivermectin (IVM). The EPG counts, hematological parameters and initial body weight of buffalo calves were recorded on the day of anthelmintic treatment (day 0). Fecal samples were collected on day 14 and 28 including hematological parameters and body weight were recorded on day 28 post-treatment. The efficacy (%) of anthelmintics were estimated by fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). The parameters like Hb, PCV, ESR, TEC, TLC were analyzed from the blood samples. The FECRT revealed 96.83% efficacy for IVM followed by 94.23% and 85.84% for LVM and ABZ, respectively. Anthelmintic treated calves showed significant (p < 0.01) increase in Hb, PCV, TEC and body weight, and decrease in ESR and TLC as a result of worm expulsion from buffalo calves after 28 days of post-treatment. Among the tested anthelmintics, IVM was found to be more effective against toxocariasis in buffalo calves. This is a novel information on anthelmintics efficacy in buffalo calves in Bangladesh. Details study is recommended on the efficacy of anthelmintics in different buffalo management systems by in vitro egg hatch assay (EHA) test.

Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards Anthrax among livestock farmers in selected rural areas of Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Bacillus anthracis is a zoonotic bacterium that affects wide numbers of vertebrate animals and man and has life threating potential both in animal s as well as humans. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge about, attitudes towards, and practices addressing (KAPs) anthrax among community members in selected upazillas' of Meherpur and Sirajgonj districts for the prevention and control of anthrax using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 424 community members were considered in this study irrespective of their age and sex. Most of the respondents were female (57.54%) and about half were illiterate (47.40%). Most of the respondents (86.32%) were self-employed with crop and livestock farming. Among the self-employed farmers, cattle (63.73%) were the highest reared animals. Among the respondents, 37.26% had no knowledge about anthrax. On the other hand, among the existing knowledge level, 46.69% received information of anthrax from neighbour, 74.05% and 56.82% were concerned about the mode of transmission of anthrax from animal to human through eating, handling and soil. Respondents usually collected vaccine from quack (58.25%) and vaccination status was highest in Kamarkhand (52.03%) and lowest in Gangni upazilla (10.82%). Overall 62.74% community members considered that anthrax is a fatal disease for livestock and 82.54% people disposed carcass in buried method. CONCLUSION: The study findings indicated that the community members had average knowledge on cause, symptoms, transmission and prevention of anthrax. The supplied vaccine was found negligible with the number of livestock in the studied upazilas. Veterinary and Medical health planners should design and implement interventions for awareness building on anthrax under One Health (OH) approach for educating the community people on anthrax control and prevention.

Prevalence and risk factors of Toxocara vitulorum infection in buffalo calves in coastal, northeastern and northwestern regions of Bangladesh.

Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is popularly known as the black gold of South Asia, consisting of 97% of the world buffalo population. Among the parasitic infections, Toxocara vitulorum is one of the most common and harmful parasites of buffalo calves in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the prevalence and associated risk factors of T. vitulorum infection of buffalo calves in four regions of Bangladesh. A total of 1751 fecal samples were collected and examined using flotation followed by the McMaster technique for counting the eggs per gram of feces (EPG) of T. vitulorum. The overall prevalence of T. vitulorum infection in buffalo calves was 22.9%. Significantly (p < 0.001) higher prevalence was found in the Barishal coastal area (35.7%) followed by Chattogram coastal area (29.2%), northeastern region (15.5%) and northwestern region (8.3%). Buffalo calves aged 1-3 months were heavily infected with T. vitulorum (51.7%) which was statistically different (p < 0.001) compared to those >3-6 months (27.6%) and > 6-12 months (6.5%). According to univariate analysis, coastal regions, rainy season, young age, gender, indigenous river type, buffalo calves with poor body condition and soft feces were found significantly associated with T. vitulorum infections. Coastal regions, rainy season and young age were identified as the risk factors of T. vitulorum infection in buffalo calves by final logistic regression model. This study reveals that T. vitulorum infection is endemic in Bangladesh and widely distributed in the coastal regions. Therefore, attention to buffalo calves regarding in-depth clinical effects and current therapeutic approaches against this nematode should be evaluated along with the economic impact of infection. Exploring the genetic diversity of T. vitulorum may help to reveal the host-parasite relationship in the future.

Comparison of multivariate preprocessing techniques as applied to electronic tongue based pattern classification for black tea.

In an electronic tongue, preprocessing on raw data precedes pattern analysis and choice of the appropriate preprocessing technique is crucial for the performance of the pattern classifier. While attempting to classify different grades of black tea using a voltammetric electronic tongue, different preprocessing techniques have been explored and a comparison of their performances is presented in this paper. The preprocessing techniques are compared first by a quantitative measurement of separability followed by principle component analysis; and then two different supervised pattern recognition models based on neural networks are used to evaluate the performance of the preprocessing techniques.