Background: Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an important viral disease causing significant economic losses in commercial livestock production. In mid‐2019, an outbreak of LSD has been reported in cattle population from different parts of Bangladesh including Chattogram division. A cross‐sectional surveillance study was undertaken from August 2019 to December 2019 to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of LSD in cattle in Chattogram district.Methods: A total of 3,327 cattle from 19 commercial farms were examined for the LSD specific skin lesions and associated risk factors. A total of 120 skin biopsies were collected from the suspected animal for the confirmation of the disease using molecular detection and histopathological examination. Partial genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were performed on selected viral isolates.Results: The overall clinical prevalence of LSD in the study population was 10% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.4%–11%) where the highest farm level outbreak frequency was 63.33% (95% CI: 45.51%–78.13%) and the lowest 4.22% (95% CI: 3.39%–5.25%). Crossbred and female cattle showed a significantly higher prevalence of the disease compared to their counterparts. Introduction of new animals in farms was found to be one of the most significant risk factors in the transmission of the disease. All suspected skin biopsies were positive for LSD virus (LSDV) infection with granulomatous and pyogranulomatous dermatitis was revealed on histopathology. Phylogenetic analysis based on the inverted terminal repeat region of the LSDV gene suggested that the locally circulating strain was closely related to the strains isolated from the Middle East and North African countries.Conclusions: The data generated in this study would be beneficial to the field veterinarians and animal health decision makers in the country as well as it will aid in taking appropriate measures to prevent further relapse or outbreak of this disease in future.

Coxiellosis, also known as Q fever, is a zoonotic disease caused byCoxiella burnetii, a gram-negative bacterium that exerts a significant deleterious impact on the productive and reproductive capabilities of livestock, severely effecting the economics of this sector. In this study, 448 sera samples from cattle (n = 224) and buffalo (n = 224) were collected from 112 farms in Pakistan and examined for antibodies againstC. burnetiiusing an indirect ELISA. Ticks were also collected from these animals. Serological analysis revealed a 23.66% and 27.23% seroprevalence of Q fever in cattle and buffalo, respectively. Odds ratio (OR) analysis of the factors associated withC. burnetiiseropositivity was performed, and a multivariable logistic model identified five main variables associated with the seropositivity for coxiellosis. These were: (i) the absence of acaricide use (OR 5.61; 95% CI 2.97–10.94); (ii) the presence of ticks (OR 3.23; 95% CI 1.87–5.69); (iii) the abortion history during the preceding year on the farm (OR 14.96; 95% CI 8.09–29.34); (iv) the presence of sheep and goats (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.20–5.35); and (v) the absence of a separate parturition area (OR 3.17; 95% CI 1.76–5.86). This study provides new insights into the seroprevalence of Q fever in large ruminants across seven studied districts of Punjab, Pakistan, also providing baseline data to inform improved herd management and on-farm practices for the prevention and control of Q fever in large ruminants in the region. Results of this work suggest that further molecular investigation of coxiellosis is warranted to provide a more thorough evaluation ofC. burnetiiepidemiology in Pakistan.

Lumpy skin disease is explained as a significant cattle disease affecting cattle of many parts of the world. An outbreak was experienced in different parts of Bangladesh including Barishal for the first time in the last quarter of 2019. This investigation was carried out to know the outbreak scenario of the disease in southern part of Bangladesh. A total of 726 cattle were included in this study covering 50 dairy farms of Barishal region from September 2019 to December 2019. Morbidity rate was found 21% (CI: 18-24%) and mortality was 1% (CI: 1-2%) in the outbreak area. Young animals (24%) and pregnant animals (70%) were significantly more susceptible compared to aged animals (17%) and non-pregnant animals (15%), respectively. Moreover, male and crossbred cattle were slightly more prone to the infection in comparison to their counterparts. About 45% of the affected animals showed nodular and remaining 55% had edematous lesions. Almost 90% of the affected animals were treated with NSAID followed by antibiotics, antihistaminic, steroid drugs and antiviral drugs where only 20% of the affected animals were treated by authorized veterinary personnel. This was the first epidemiological investigation in the mentioned outbreak area which may serve as a baseline for LSD research in the location needed for developing effective control strategy.

In recent years, the incidence of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) has increased throughout the globe. In particular, tick-borne diseases (e.g., caused by Ehrlichia canis, E. ewingii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, A. platys, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) and Babesia gibsoni) and mosquito-borne diseases (e.g., caused by Dirofilaria immitis) diseases pose a burden on animal health. Nevertheless, there have been no studies undertaken on the occurrence of VBDs in pet dogs and cats in Hong Kong SAR. This study fills this gap, and is the first to determine the seroprevalence of major VBDs, such as those caused by D. immitis, E. canis, E. ewingii, A. phagocytophilum, A. platys and B. burgdorferi s.s, in dogs and cats through commercially available SNAP 4Dx plus testing. Infection by all these pathogens and Babesia sp. was further assessed through PCR and DNA sequencing. A total of 224 blood samples were collected from domestic dogs (n = 159) and cats (n = 65) in Hong Kong SAR during summer 2022. Hematocrit and platelet counts were determined in each blood sample and other hematological parameters were assessed using an automatic hematology analyzer and vortex the specimen for one to two minutes at or near the highest setting to minimize the clumping. All cat sera samples were negative for tested pathogens, but antibodies against some of the pathogens were detected in dog sera samples. Here, the highest figures were recorded for seroprevalence of E. canis/E. ewingii (10.7%), followed by D. immitis (5.7%), and A. phagocytophilum/A. platys (2.5%). No B. burgdorferi s.s. antibodies were detected in any of the dogs tested. Through molecular diagnostics, we detected the presence of B. gibsoni (3.7%), E. canis (3.1%), D. immitis (5.7%), and A. phagocytophilum (1.3%). Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic trees for vector-borne pathogens (i.e., genus Anaplasma sp.) showed 100% clustering to Japan, the USA and Germany, whereas genus Ehrlichia sp. showed 100% clustering to China, Turkey, Cuba, and Greece. Similarly, genus Babesia sp. clustered 100% to India, Sri Lanka and Austria, while D. immitis clustered in Iraq, South Korea, Portugal, France, the USA and Italy. This study provides the first evidence on the occurrence of tick-borne pathogens in pet dogs in Hong Kong SAR. Based on these findings, it is recommended that appropriate screening should be undertaken in domestic dogs to evaluate the prevalence of these pathogens and promote the timely control of VBDs.

Gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infection is considered a common problem in sheep and goat production in Bangladesh. The current investigation was undertaken to determine the prevalence of GI parasitic infection and its associated risk factors (e.g., age, sex, nutritional & deworming status etc.) in sheep and goats of the Sandwip Island, Chattogram, Bangladesh. A total of 330 faecal samples of which 220 sheep and 110 goats were taken using a random sampling method. All the samples were subjected to routine coproscopy (e.g., direct smear, flotation and sedimentation) to detect the eggs/oocysts of helminths and protozoan parasites. Results demonstrated that the overall prevalence of GI parasitic infections was 68.64% in sheep and 61.82% in goats. The frequency of nematodes and trematodes was higher in comparison to cestodes and protozoan infections in both sheep and goats of all the three study areas. Age-specific prevalence demonstrated that adult goats had significantly higher GI parasitic infections in comparison to the young population. Female sheep were more prone to GI parasitic infections whereas the opposite trend was noticed for goats. The sheep and goats having the ‘poor’ body condition score/nutritional status were more susceptible to parasitic infections compared to moderate and good health conditions. Rarely or non-dewormed sheep and goats also harboured more GI parasites compared ‘dewormed animals’. The current investigation was fresh of its types in the study areas, therefore, we recommended extensive studies including epidemiological and molecular approaches to identify GI parasitic diseases and their associated risk factors.

Brucellosis is one of the neglected zoonotic diseases (NZD) in the world that causes disease globally. Brucella melitensis , one of the organisms responsible for causing the disease in sheep and goat, is responsible for the disease in humans. The disease is transmitted mainly from sheep and goat to humans via ingestion (typically through milk), inhalation, abrasion and so on. Despite the zoonotic importance of the disease, there is lack of comprehensive data such as overall prevalence around the world is yet to be measured. The aim of this study is to review all the available articles on the prevalence of the infection in sheep and goats systematically and determine the overall prevalence around the world. Therefore, a literature search was conducted in PubMed for articles published from January 2010 to December 2023 on the relevant topic. The inclusion criteria were set to extract relevant data from the selected articles. A random effect meta‐analysis model was used in analysing the data. The derived prevalence was presented in percentage along with 95% confidence interval (CI). The pooled prevalence of B. melitensis infection globally in goat was 2.46% (95% CI: 1.70%–3.21%) and in sheep was 8.07% (95% CI: 6.36%–9.78%); the combined pooled prevalence in both sheep and goat was 5.54% (95% CI: 4.63%–6.45%). Overall, on the basis of regions, the pooled prevalence in goat ranged from 0.07% (95% CI: −0.08% to 0.22%) to 16.82% (95% CI: 12.69%–20.95%). In sheep, the regional pooled prevalence ranged from 0.03% (95% CI: −0.03% to 0.08%) to 60.39% (95% CI: 58.50%–62.27%). This systematic review and meta‐analysis demonstrated the global burden of B. melitensis infection in sheep and goat that would help better understanding the global distribution of the infection and the potential areas of zoonotic transmission. The data have been retrieved from various types of journals with different types of study designs and were analysed to highlight the variation of prevalence across the countries, among different species, diagnostic methods and sample sources. This knowledge would help in planning effective control measures targeting high risk species, areas and so on.