Brucellosis is a widespread zoonotic disease of veterinary and public health importance with considerably higher prevalence in developing/underdeveloped countries. This study reports the prevalence and risk determinants of brucellosis in small ruminants of peri-urban and rural areas of district Multan, Southern Punjab, Pakistan. For this purpose, sera samples (n = 392) of small ruminants were collected and subjected to preliminary screening using commercially available RBPT reagents followed by serodetection of brucellosis using multispecies i-ELISA kit (ID.vet, France). All the ELISA positive samples were confirmed by PCR using genus-specific primers, and frequencies of Brucella species in positive samples were enumerated using species-specific primers. Results indicated seropositivity rates of 9.69, 9.95, and 10.20% in study population using RBPT reagents of IDEXX-USA, ID.Vet-France, and VRI-Pakistan, respectively, with a statistically nonsignificant difference . Results of ELISA showed an overall seroprevalence rate of 7.14% in target population with a slightly higher rate in sheep (7.65%) as compared to goat (6.63%) population ( ; OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.53, 2.57). Results revealed that out of total positive samples, B. abortus was detected in 60.71% of seropositive samples and B. melitensis was detected in 14.28% of positive samples. It was revealed that risk factors including body condition scores, hygienic conditions of the housing facility, farming system, reproductive disorders, educational status of farmers, and awareness of farmers about brucellosis had significant association with brucellosis in small ruminants of study area . Conversely, farm/herd size, locality, gender, age, weight, and parity showed a nonsignificant association with brucellosis. In conclusion, brucellosis is prevalent in small ruminants of Multan, Pakistan. It is recommended to devise and implement effective control strategies with a major focus on raising awareness about brucellosis in farmers for the containment of infection in the region.

Scrub rangelands support livestock grazing and provide ecosystem services to their inhabitants. The present study was conducted in Chakwal, an important tract of the Pothwar Plateau, which sustains herds of small domestic and nomadic ruminants. Urbanization and uncontrolled grazing practices have reduced rangeland productivity and increased soil erosion and resulted in poor land conditions. This study assessed the influence of two years of rangeland protection on aboveground vegetation biomass and the chemical composition of plants and aimed to determine the influence of seasonal grazing on the live-weight gain of small ewes. Using the line intercept method, vegetation data from protected and unprotected plots in 2015 and 2016 were collected at two sites, Dhulli and Begal. Vegetation cover was assessed from images using VegMeasure. Results showed that protected study sites displayed higher vegetation biomass (834 and 690 kg ha(-1)) compared to the unprotected study site (477 and 326 kg ha(-1)) during April and August of both years. In the seasonal grazing trial, the experimental ewes that grazed on protected rangelands showed higher live-weight gain (33-63 g day(-1)) compared to live weight of ewes (17-21 g day(-1)) that grazed on unprotected rangelands during the experimental period of 127 days at both sites. The results suggest that the Chakwal rangeland has tremendous potential to improve vegetation productivity but modern livestock management and seasonal grazing practices are needed to improve carrying capacity and livestock productivity.

Cirrhosis is a complication of many liver disease characterized by abnormal structure and function of the liver. The aim of this study is to investigate the liver function levels by measuring Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase (GOT), Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase (GPT), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and total protein (T.P) and lipid profile levels by measuring total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL). Seventy five individuals of Iraqi adults (25 female and 50 male) were divided into two groups: 25 normal individuals (10 female and 15 male) as control group (group1), their age range (28–60) year and 50 cirrhotic patients (20 female and 30 male), their age range (18–68) year and (35–72) year respectively (group 2). In the present study, the mean value of GOT, GPT and ALP activity were significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis disease than healthy group (p 0.01), while the mean value of T.P. level was 6.21g/dl in cirrhotic patients compared with healthy group 7.54g/dl. The findings indicate that serum (TC, TG, HDL and LDL) levels were significantly decreased (P 0.01) in cirrhotic Patients compared with healthy group. The results also indicate a positive correlation between GOT and GPT, and between ALP and both (GOT, GPT). Also, there was a positive correlation between TC and (TG, HDL and LDL) and between TG and both (HDL, LDL). This study has shown that a significant difference (P 0.05) between male and female in the mean value of T.P and TC levels and also the effect of duration of disease on Parameters was studied.

Hedgehogs can act as reservoirs for the transmission of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) to domestic livestock, wild animals, and humans. Understanding host–tick dynamics is essential to evaluate the impact of TBPs. This study was conducted in Pakistan and aimed to determine the prevalence and species of TBPs in the blood and ticks of Indian long-eared hedgehogs captured from various environments. A total of 64 hedgehogs were captured to check for tick infestation. Tick species were identified morphologically and molecularly including ITS-2 region amplification by PCR and subsequent Sanger sequencing. Moreover, TBPs were identified in both ticks and the blood of hedgehogs through conventional PCR and sequencing, targeting the regions msp1b, 18S rRNA, and cytb for Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., and Theileria spp., respectively. Out of 64 hedgehogs, 16 (25%) were found to be infested with ticks. Morphological and molecular analysis identified all 109 collected ticks as Rhipicephalus turanicus. Only one hedgehog (6.2%) was infected with A. marginale. From the tick samples, 3.7% tested positive for Theileria lestoquardi, 2.8% for Anaplasma marginale, and another 2.8% for Babesia bigemina. This study provides critical insights into circulating TBPs in this region and what possible role hedgehogs might play in disease maintenance for Anaplasma marginale while identifying multiple pathogens that are of concern to human and animal health.