Infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT), caused by Gallid herpesvirus1, is one among the respiratory diseases of poultry gradually spreading worldwide, including Indian subcontinent. Present study was carried out to identify the pathogen from the suspected cases of the disease. The tracheal tissue samples (pooled) were collected from the birds suspected to have died of ILT from 26 commercial poultry farms located in and around Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu state of India. On post-mortem examination, haemorrhagic caseous exudate and fibrinous pseudo-membrane adhered to tracheal mucosa were noticed. A total of 22 farms were found positive through PCRs targeted against ICP4 gene and the thymidine kinase (TK) gene followed by confirmation through sequencing. Histopathology examination revealed decilliation, hyperplasia, degeneration and/or loss of tracheal epithelium with severe submucosal edema. There was infiltration with numerous lymphocytes, macrophages and plasma cells in milder infections, whereas presence of fibrinous exudates admixed with numerous erythrocytes and inflammatory cells like heterophils and lymphocytes were seen indicating the severe acute form of the disease. A fibrinous pseudomembrane was seen firmly attached to the inflamed and necrotic mucosa in subacute cases. Further, virus was isolated from randomly selected 5 PCR positive tracheal tissue samples in embryonated chicken eggs through chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) route. The typical pock lesions were observed on CAM along with engorged blood vessels and thickening of the membrane. Present study has reported the disease ILT among poultry flocks in the Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu and raises the concern for thorough investigation of the nature of prevailing pathogen in the region.

Lumpy skin disease is a transboundary viral disease that affects cattle and buffaloes. It is caused by lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) of genus Capripoxvirus and Poxviridae family. It is now spreading in a rapid pace in many countries especially in South Asia. The primarily noticeable symptoms of the disease include a lump like formation on the outer skin and mucosal membrane of buffaloes and cattle. It is an arthropod vector borne disease. LSD causes high morbidity and low to moderate mortality in the affected herd. It also often causes abortion in pregnant animal and infertility in male. Milk production is also reduced in affected milch animals. Strict quarantine, control of vector population and vaccination are some of the effective precautionary measures to control the ailment. Present mini-review highlighted various risk factors, transmission, clinical signs as well as precautionary measures to control LSD.

Background: Brucellosis is one of the important diseases affecting both human as well as livestock. Rapid diagnosis of the pathogen is highly essential for undertaking effective therapeutic measures. Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, one of the robust nucleic acid detection platforms, is used especially for rapid disease diagnosis. However, persistent contamination has been the major bottleneck in LAMP which can be eliminated with adoption of appropriate closed-tube formats. Methods: In the present report, two sets of LAMP primers targeting omp2b gene of Brucella were designed and standardized for detection of all the major Brucella spp. Result: There was absence of amplification in any of the non-Brucella species in contrast to detection of white precipitation in unaided eye in daylight as well as greenish fluorescence under ultraviolet light in all of the Brucella species. It was found to be more sensitive than conventional PCR as relative sensitivity was found to be 0.34pg for first set of primers and 34fg for second set of primers, as compared to 3.4pg through bcsp31 PCR.

Contagious Ecthyma (CE), commonly referred to as Orf or scabby mouth, is a viral disease that mostly affects sheep and goats, caused by the Orf virus. In addition to sheep and goats, it also affects domestic and wild ruminants, as well as humans, highlighting its zoonotic importance. This study aims to characterize ORFV strain circulating in Tamil Nadu. In the present study, the partial GM-CSF/IL-2 inhibition factor (GIF) gene of ORFV was amplified from nine ORFV-positive clinical material/isolates recovered from nine different outbreaks over five years (2012 to 2016) from Tamil Nadu State, India. Further GIF gene-specific PCR-RFLP analysis was carried out with Hae III and sequence analysis was carried out to identify the strain variation among ORFV strain. In PCR all the nine-samples yielded 408 bp GIF-gene specific PCR amplicons. RFLP analysis identified three distinct genotyping patterns (I, II and III) among ORFV strains infecting sheep and goats. All sheep-associated ORFV strains belonged to a single genotype, while two additional genotypes were detected among the goat-associated strains. Moreover, the nucleic acid and deduced amino acid sequence analyses revealed the presence of distinct genotyping patterns among the ORFV affecting sheep. On phylogenetic analysis, the GIF gene phylogenetic tree revealed the distinct clustering of sheep and goat ORFV. The presence of host-specific molecular signatures and the heterogeneity among ORFV strains among species circulating in the field necessitates thorough investigation of the prevalent genotypes and/or molecular patterns biased towards the particular preferred host, the importance of cross-immunity across the heterologous host, and the use of universal or host-specific vaccine strains for effective disease prevention.