DIVISION OF ANIMAL HEALTH
The Division of Animal Health has its origin from the Sheep Husbandry Section initiated since inception of the Institute in 1962. In 1970, the Sheep Husbandry Section was renamed as Sheep Health Section. Up to 1978, the main role of section was to provide health cover to the flocks of the Institute. The section initiated a long-term research project on the epidemiology of sheep and goat diseases in 1978. The section has provided valuable insight on the various diseases and health related problems that occur when the production potential and genotypes of animals are progressively altered. With the passage of time, the diagnostic laboratories were also developed to fit into the requirement of the Institute. The Animal Health Section was re-designated as Division of Animal Health in 1987.
Pneumonia and pneumoenteritis complex: Acute pulmonary disease has been a serious problem in sheep flocks since inception of the Institute. Usually mortality due to respiratory syndrome starts in March and reaches at peak in May. Losses were at the maximum in suckling (0-3 months) mostly with non-suppurative lesions. However, incidence of pulmonary suppuration and formation of abscesses increases with the age. In general the agents implicated in etiology of respiratory syndrome include a wide spectra of viruses such as PI 3, Adeno and Reo viruses, bacterial species such as Hemophilus, Bordetella, Pasteurella, Corynebacterium, Mycoplasma and Chlamydia along with a chain of predisposing factors mainly the environmental and managemental fluctuations. From CSWRI, Avikanagar, P. multocida serotype B was isolated from an outbreak of pneumonia and it was compared with a reference strain obtained from FAO regional reference laboratory, Sri Lanka. Mycoplasma strains have also been isolated from sheep having respiratory distress and typed as M. agalactiae by using reference sera (National Collection of Type Culture, London). Recently, from 2009 onward from lung and nasal swab, 28 Gram positive and 45 Gram negative bacterial isolated were obtained. E. coli and Staphylococcus sp. were major Gram negative and positive bacteria, respectively. The other bacteria identified were Proteus and Streptococcus sp.
Johne’s Disease (JD): It is a chronic disease with no simple and reliable diagnostic tests. At CSWRI, Avikanagar, the overall prevalence rate in sheep over 9 years (1978-85) was 0.7% on the basis of faecal sample examination and 10.6% on the basis of necropsy. Lamb-hood vaccination using the Iceland JD vaccine for a period of 7 years followed by fecal examination and elimination of positive cases from the flock, resulted in reduction of the incidence of JD from 1.26% in 1985 to 0.41% in 1987. As the highest clinical incidence of JD occurs around lambing and in between August and October, thus the fecal examination for detection of acid fast bacilli (AFB) may be of better use, if done during this period. On AGID, breed-wise analysis revealed maximum incidence in Chokla sheep (6.14%) followed by Avikalin (1.09%) and Bharat Merino (0.96%). For effective reduction in incidence of JD through early and precise detection, protocol for PCR was standardized through targeting IS900, ISMav2 and 251 genes.
Bluetongue (BT): It is endemic in Rajasthan and a few frank cases of BT occured in post-monsoon season at CSWRI, Avikanagar. Though mortality is low, but morbidity in the flocks have been significant including lamb losses, wool losses, congenital deformities and weak weaners and hoggets in affected flocks which causes concern. The bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 1 has also been isolated from this farm with the help of HAU, Hisar. During 1985-88, in sheep and goats, 7.01% of the animals were found positive for BTV antibodies on AGPT. Higher prevalence (33%) of the disease was detected in exotic sheep (Rambouillet and Merino) followed by higher crosses (9%), whereas in native breed there was lack of antibody response. BTV antibodies were equally prevalent in male and female and more in hoggets than adults. Competitive ELISA and indirect ELISA were found more or less equally sensitive. Since 2003, though no clinical cases of BTD were observed, however, testing of serum samples using c-ELISA or indirect-ELISA revealed that the average sero-prevalence for BTD ranged from 39.24% in sheep to 58.55% in goats of Rajasthan. The incidence was significantly higher (56.06%) in sheep flocks of semi-arid Rajasthan compared to 35.57% in arid Rajasthan. However, in goats there was no regional variation in sero-prevalence of BTD. The management system also found to affect the sero-prevalence of BTD and it was higher in migratory flocks (63.29% in sheep to 84.84% in goats) compared to stationary flocks (35.03% in sheep to 72.88% in goats).
Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR): PPR outbreaks were recorded in goat flocks of CSWRI, Avikanagar and in sheep flock of Bikaner. Confirmatory diagnosis was made by immuno-capture ELISA by using specific monoclonal antibody. At Sheep Breeding Farm, Fathepur, the sero-prevalence was 19.20% in exotic and crossbred sheep. However, in field flocks the sero-prevalence was relatively higher and ranging from 62.13% in sheep to 63.48% in goat flocks. A systematic study during the period from July 2004 to March 2006 with 2024 sheep and 1389 goats at risk in 61 flocks of 24 villages revealed that proportion of animals exhibiting typical and atypical signs of PPR was 73.77 and 27.23%, respectively. The clinical occurrence of PPR was predominantly (74%) limited to winter season. Based on livestock census (2003), the total morbidity loss due to PPR in small ruminants of the Rajasthan amount to Rs. 85.13 crore (66.86 crore in goat and 18.27% in sheep). The study revealed that PPR disease is responsible for a loss of 2.31% of total value of small ruminants (2.65% in goats and 1.58% in sheep).
Sheep and Goat Pox: Outbreaks of sheep and goat pox were encountered in both unvaccinated and vaccinated flocks belonging to both institute and villages since very beginning. Specific vaccine to control goat pox is still awaited.
Enterotoxaemia: Enterotoxaemia outbreaks recorded from the institute flocks inspite of vaccination were confirmed through laboratory testing as and when required.
Suppurative lymphadenitis (SL)/ Caseous lymphadenitis: During 2002-03, the clinico-epidemiological profile in Sirohi goat flock at CSWRI, Avikanagar exhibited maximum incidence (66.7%) in adult followed by hogget (30.0%) and weaner (3.3%). Male had higher (72.2%) incidence compared to female (27.8%). The seasonal incidence of SL was 22.2% in monsoon, 36.7% in winter and 41.1% in summer. Though, the single / multiple abscesses occurred at parotid, pre-scapular and pre-femoral regions but most preferred sites included were pre-scapular (36.7%), pre-femoral (33.3%) and parotid gland (15.6%) area. The size of abscess varied from areca nut to cricket ball and growth was non-inflammatory. A total of 17 pure C. pseudotuberculosis isolates were obtained on blood agar. A known virulence factor, phospholipase D production was determined by detection of synergistic lysis of erythrocytes in the presence of extracellular Rhodococcus equi factor and hemolytic antagonism with a β toxin producing Staphylococcus aureus. The PCR assay developed was found to be specific and rapid, and could be used for confirmation of CL in goats as an alternative method to generally cumbersome, time consuming and less reliable conventional methods.
Yersiniosis: In goat flocks of CSWRI, Avikanagar, an outbreak of yersiniosis was recorded in the year 2005-06 with overall morbidity of 20%. The age-wise incidence was maximum (66.7%) in adult males followed by 16% in females and 10.00% in hoggets. Isolation and characterization study confirmed Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and organism was found sensitive to chloramplenicol, enrofloxin, levofloxin, doxycycline and gentamycin.
Foot rot: The disease was observed in most virulent form in goats. The disease in sheep was however mild. The causative Gram-negative bacteria indistinguishable from Dichelobactoer nodosus and Fusobacterium sp. were detected, which requires confirmation. Specific primers for molecular detection of Dichelobactor nodosus and Fusobacterium necrophorum were designed.
Parasitology: In the field of Parasitology, during initial phase mainly need-based research work was carried out. However, with the emergence of problem of anthelmintic resistance in sheep nematodes, the systematic work on epidemiology at farm level was initiated in 1994 and later on the entire Rajasthan state was covered under All India Network Programme on Gastrointestinal parasitism. The major objectives were to develop suitable worm management programme in sheep flocks of different regions, smart use of anthelmintics and evaluation of alternate control methods.
Epidemiological studies: The results of initial studies at farm exhibited that intensity of strongyle infection in adult sheep started rising from April and reached a peak in August and then declined to a very low level until March. In young sheep, intensity of infection remained nil up to June and began to rise from mid July to reach a maximum in early September. The availability of infective larvae on herbage was mainly restricted for the period from July to October. The predominant nematode parasite of economic significance at farm is Haemonchus contortus followed by Oesophagostomum columbianum, Trichostrongylus axei and T. colubriformis. The observations on development and survival of larvae on pasture revealed that infective larvae survived for maximum period (up to 9 weeks) during September followed by August and November (8 weeks). On the basis of above findings deworming frequency at CSWRI, Avikanagar was reduced from 4 times a year to once a year (with one tactical drench). This not only economized the worm control programme but also decrease the selection pressure on parasites population needed to develop anthelmintic resistance thus extended the life of existing anthelmintics.
Peri-parturient rise (PPR) in faecal egg count: In a study conducted at CSWRI, Avikanagar during spring lambing season it was observed that there was no significant difference in FECs between lactating and dry ewes up to 12 weeks post lambing as well as FECs remained almost similar in sheep maintained under different stages of reproduction. The studies on lambing pattern in field flocks of Rajasthan revealed that majority of ewes in flocks are in lambing / lactation during October to February and agroclimatic conditions of the state does not favour the development and dissemination of worms from December to June resulting in non-availability of source of infection for lactating ewes. On the basis of these studies it was concluded that in Rajasthan there was absence of classical PPR in FEC in sheep. However, this phenomenon appeared to occur in ewes which lambed during July-August (favourable season for peak parasitic activity on pasture).
Epidemiology of Fasciola gigantica: The study carried out in arid and semi-arid Rajasthan revealed an overall incidence of F. gigantica in sheep flocks to the tune of 0.2 and 0.1%, respectively, on faecal examination. The monthly egg shedding pattern exhibited higher incidence in June (semi-arid region) and February (arid region) indicating possible period of ingestion of metacercariae during March in the vicinity of snail habitats in semi-arid Rajasthan. In arid region, migratory sheep found to pick up infection during November-early December and in May-June during their grazing around water reservoirs.
Epidemiology of stomach flukes: The overall annual incidence of stomach flukes in sheep ranged from 1.6% in arid Rajasthan to 7.5% in semi-arid Rajasthan. The monthly rate of prevalence also exhibited significant variability and ranged from nil (December) to 31.7% (August) in semi-arid region and from nil to 7.9% (August) in arid region. In semi-arid conditions it has been observed that infection is endemic in nature with two peaks of in a year during the month of June and August compared to only a single peak during August in arid conditions of Rajasthan.
Epidemiology of Schistosomes: Among sheep flocks of Rajasthan, the annual incidence of S. indicum (on the basis of faecal examination) was 0.3 and 0.5%, respectively, in arid and semi-arid regions. In semi-arid region the monthly incidence ranged from nil (January) to 1.9% (June) compared to almost nil (November-April) to 1.6% (August) in arid region. The peak / higher incidence occurred during May to September in semi-arid and during August in arid region regions.
Epidemiology of cestodes: Moneizia expansa and M. benedeni are commonly encountered. The overall annual incidence of Moniezia infection in sheep flocks of Rajasthan ranged from 4.0 to 5.8% in semi-arid and from 0.7 to 1.8% in arid region. Among farm animals of semi-arid region higher incidence was observed during May to August.
Epidemiology of coccidia: The species recorded were Eimeria arloingi, E. ovina, E. faueri, E. parva, E. granulosa, E. intricata, E. pallida and E. ninakohlyakimovae. Of these E. ninakohlyakimovae, andE. ahsata are most pathogenic to lambs (1-6 month of age). E. faueri, E. arloingi, E. granulosa and E. parva are mild pathogenic while E. intricata is usually non-pathogenic in sheep. In Rajasthan the overall annual incidence of Eimeria infection in sheep flocks managed under farmer’s condition ranged from 41.8 (arid) to 44.5% (semi-arid). In organized farm the annual incidence varied from 30.1 (arid) to 37.5% (semi-arid). The monthly incidence on faecal examination showed seasonal variability in incidence of Eimeria infection.
Anthelmintic resistance: Under All India Network Programme on GI Parasitism, state-wide prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in nematode parasites was studied in sheep flocks by employing both in vivo FECRT and in vitro EHA. The overall BZ-resistance in H. contortus was observed in 85.7% of flocks in Rajasthan. TEM-resistant strain of H. contortus was observed in 56.5% of the flocks in Rajasthan. On in vitro EHA, BZ-resistance was detected in 73.0% of the flocks tested with the overall mean ED50 value of 0.200±0.008 µg TBZ/ml. It was interesting to observe the seasonal variation in efficacy of FBZ which indicated variation in population dynamics of parasite and proportion of susceptible and resistant parasites in host.
Factors affecting the rate of development of anthelmintic resistance:In a state-wide survey in Rajasthan it was observed that flock size had no significant influence on drench frequency in the flock. A linear increase in prevalence rate of anthelmintic resistance was observed with increase in flock size. On FECRT, it was observed that emergence of BZ and TEM resistance in H. contortus was significantly influenced by drench frequency and had positive correlation. Though flock size had no direct influence on extent of AR but indirectly it plays its role through use of more number of drenches in larger flocks.
The correlated response between genotypic frequency of homozygous BZ-resistant larvae and BZ-efficacy exhibited that a marginal rise in the proportion of BZ-susceptible alleles during September to November resulted in increase in efficacy of BZ anthelmintics as well as reduces the proportion of flocks harbouring BZ-resistant H. contortus. It is clear from the molecular analysis that community dilution strategy for reversion of susceptibility to BZ in H. contortus could be feasible in farm condition. The period from September to November in semi-arid and from June to February in arid Rajasthan was found appropriate in increasing the frequency of BZ-susceptible alleles in the refugia.
Studies on pharmacokinetics of benzimidazole in sheep
Effect of route of administration of ABZ in sheep: It was concluded that oral administration of anthelmintic in ruminants stimulated the closure of oesophageal groove leading to diversion of drug to the abomasum resulting in faster absorption and elimination. Thus, the increased bioavailability of BZ anthelmintics given through intraruminal route could be exploited for optimizing the use of anthelmintic for sustainable parasite control.
Effect of diet type on the pharmacokinetics of ABZ in sheep: It was concluded that the decreased transit time of digesta on the green fodder reduced systemic availability by reducing the time available for gastrointestinal absorption of the drug.
Effect of pre-treatment fasting on anthelmintic availability in sheep: The study suggested that restricting the intake of feed is an alternative means of enhancing the systemic availability by increasing its dissolution and absorption and delaying the elimination of anthelmintics. Thus, allowing more time to contact between drug and parasites. Restriction of feed intake may be practiced to enhance the anthelmintic efficacy against parasites.
Worm management Programme
Based on epidemiological investigations, region based modified worm management programme (MWMP) for heep flocks of Rajasthan has been developed and tested for their effectiveness. It involves single targeted anthelmintic treatment of flocks during mid to late monsoon with tactical treatment (if required) in November. The monthly FEC pattern revealed that drenching of flocks during mid to end phase of monsoon able to prevent build up of infection in succeeding months in contrast to early monsoon drenching. Further unfavourable climatic conditions, denudation of grass cover / mat in grazing area, practices of grazing in harvested field or on top feeds resulted in significant decline in FEC in succeeding period without any anthelmintic intervention. The farmer’s practice of 2-3 drench / year seems to be unwarranted as there is continuous decline in FEC after monsoon. Therefore, proposed MWMP based on interaction between epidemiology, weather and management of flocks resulted into reduction in drench frequency, allows better management / rotation of anthelmintic types, reduces selection pressure in parasite population, delayed emergence of anthelmintic resistant strains of parasites, extend life of existing anthelmintics and reduces the unwanted expenditure incurred by farmer on anthelmintic use. Further study revealed that early deworming during July is not fruitful, hence it should be delayed till infection reaches to peak (particularly after mid monsoon) so there could be large population on refugia which maintain the balance between different genotypes (w.r.t. anthelmintic resistance) in population.
Worm management by targeted selective treatment (TST) in sheep flocks
Because of rapid emergence, spread and borrowing of anthelmintic resistance in H. contortus and limited option for selecting a suitable anthelmintic class an attempt was made to develop the suitable strategy for application of TST approach in sheep flocks. Following successful implementation of single drench / annum schedule during mid to late monsoon, it was planned to further reduce the use of anthelmintics in flock to harvest the benefits of over-dispersion phenomenon in FECs. The estimated comparative performance of TST and en-mass targeted treatment exhibited that over the period of 3 years, the frequency of anthelmintic treatment under TST was 29.31% in 2008-09 which reduced to 23.99% in 2009-10 and further to 15.50% in 2010-11 with an average of 22.93±4.03% per annum. During the period of 3 years no adverse effect of TST were observed on flock performance. The cost of anthelmintic intervention in flock was only 10% of that incurred with targeted treatment particularly due to reduced use of anthelmintics.
Forecasting system for gastrointestinal nematodes
Bioclimatographs: These explain the distribution in space and time of pasture nematodes and represent the first rational attempt to utilize climatic observations to explain important features of epidemiology of helminthic diseases. Based on epidemiological studies, the genera considered to be of importance for Rajasthan were Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus and Oesophagostomum. It was observed that for H. contortus, bioclimatographs prepared by plotting Tmax and TRF gave better prediction in all the zones whereas for Trichostrongylus, precise prediction was obtained with bioclimatographs prepared by incorporating Tmin and RH.
Mathematical modeling for forecasting of H. contortus in sheep in Rajasthan: Monthly total rainfall, average maximum and minimum temperature and relative humidity were used to determine the period in which worm eggs from faeces reach the infective larval stage and migrate on to the herbage. The steps involved were (i) interaction between FEC and climate, (ii) development rate from eggs to L3, (iii) larval survival rate, (iv) larval migration (vertical) rate on grass blade, (v) stocking density on community grazing land, (vi) seasonal herbage availability, (vii) dry matter consumption rate, (viii) faecal output rate, (ix) establishment rate of adult worms in sheep and (x) fecundity rate of adult worm. All the steps enlisted above were arranged sequentially and organized in “visual basic” programme to develop forecasting system for GIN in sheep of Rajasthan (FROGIN). It is a computer based mathematical modeling of H. contortus population tailored for different zones of Rajasthan. It give result as predicted FEC on start of month, intensity of FEC for next 60 days and pasture larval burden for that month. Studies on testing and validation of FROGIN in farm and field flocks of both agroclimatic conditions of Rajasthan exhibited that while considering a variation of 500 epg in FEC as non-significant, the FROGIN based forecast about intensity of infection was > 80% in agreement in all the location and management system except in arid farm where agreement % was 66.7.
Alternative control methods for gastrointestinal Nematodes
The overall h2 estimates for log transformed FEC in naïve animals were 0.104 and 0.141 for Malpura and Avikalin, respectively. In exposed animals the h2 estimates for log transformed FEC were 0.081and 0.043 for Malpura and Avikalin, respectively. Creation of divergent lines either resistant (R-line) or susceptible (S-line) could be possible through regular screening for FEC at naïve and exposed stage of infection and selection of progenies. No significant variation was observed in monthly body weights, annual GFY and reproductive performance of adult sheep belonging to R and S-line in both the breeds. The average annual mortality % ranged from 6.33±0.89 (R-line) to 7.03± 2.05 (S-line) and average %culling / sale varied from 6.12±2.36 (R-line) to 7.72±2.78 (S-line). Animals of R-line had lower FEC over the years compared to their counterparts in S-line. The animals of S-line required strategic as well as tactical anthelmintic intervention while animals of R-line were maintained without any anthelmintic intervention.
The progenies having inheritance of R-line possess comparatively lower FEC than those having inheritance of S-line. The ADG (0-12 month) and annual GFY remained slightly higher in progenies born from S-sire compared to those from R-sire.
Bioactive forages and role of condensed tannins (CTs): Beneficial effect on the ability of ruminants to withstand internal parasitic infection has been found with tannin-containing plants. The study conducted at CSWRI, Avikanagar revealed significant reduction in larval development rate in faeces from CT fed animals. On in vivo study, around 40-60% reduction in FEC with marginal rise in haemoglobin and packed cell volume were observed in sheep (infected with GIN) fed CTs (@ 5 % of DM) either as leaves of Khejri (Prosopis. cineraria) or as extract (acetone: water) of leaves compared to those offered diet having no CT.
Phyto-anthelmintics: Under NATP a large number of crude extracts from different plants were evaluated for antiparasitic activities and it has been found that Malia azedarach (Bakain), Butea frondosa (Palas), Artemesia martima (Kirmala), Mallotus philippinensis (Kamala), Azadirachta indica (Neem), Embelia ribes (Baberang), Tagetes patula (Gaatakadi), Andrographis peniculata (Kalmegh), Vernonia anthelmintica (Kaljiri), Vitex negundo (Bana), Xanthium stramurium (Chotta Gokhru) etc posses low to high level of antiparasitic activity against different stages of GI nematodes.
Chemical control of nematode larvae on pasture: By targeting the infective larvae or pre-parasitic stages of H. contortus, could it be possible to control or minimize the level of infection with in livestock. The effect of urea on different stages of parasites as well as on controlled pasture plots was studied.
It was observed that exogenous nitrogen caused significant embryonic death in H. contortus eggs and prevented egg hatching. The hatching was reduced drastically at concentration of 1.00 g N2% (59.94±5.14%) compared to control group (90.27±1.45%). In vitro studies on effect of urea N2 on infective larvae (L3) of H. contortus showed around 50% death in L3 with in 4 hr post-incubation at concentration of 5.00 to 7.50 g N2%. Incorporation of exogenous nitrogen into faecal culture revealed significant difference among various level of treatment in larval recovery. The mean % L3 recovery in urea treated cultures varied from 62.02±6.65 (@ 0.019 g N2%) to nil (@ > 5.00 g N2%). It was observed that increase in total faecal N2 by 3.7% resulted in only 39.2% L3 recovery compared to 100 % in normal faeces. Further, if the total faecal N2 concentration was increased by 23.4% the larval recovery was only 0.69±0.30%. In urea treated pastures the larval translation and recovery was significantly reduced by 80% when the urea application was made @ 1.25 g N2% corresponding to 27.0 kg urea / hectare.
Biological control: In Rajasthan, nematophagous fungi were surveyed and Duddingtonia flagrans is found as most suitable candidate followed by Arthrobotyrus oligospora and Verticillium spp. It has been observed that prevalence rate of nematophagous fungi in sheep faeces was higher in arid region (~ 10.0%) compared to ~ 3-5% in semi-arid region of Rajasthan. Seasonal dynamics of nematophagous fungi in sheep faeces exhibited strong seasonality during the period from January to March. On agar medium both A. oligospora and D. flagrans effectively trap the baited infective H. contortus larvae. D. flagrans has a chlamydospore which is sufficiently robust that it can survive passage through the ruminant gastrointestinal tract and pass safely through the gut to the faeces. D. flagrans is found superior as compared to A. oligospora in surviving the gut passage in ruminants. Straw based complete feed blocks (CFB) containing D. flagrans chlamydospores were developed and tested at CSWRI, Avikanagar with encouraging results. Feeding trial where sheep were fed fresh fungal blocks daily for 5 days, resulted in a significant reduction in larval numbers recovered from faecal cultures, concurrent with observed growth of D. flagrans in almost all the agar plates during the period in which the fungal blocks were on offer. The percent development of infective larvae remained low for 2 days after the fungal blocks were withdrawn and then returned to almost pre-fungal block levels. Trials conducted for estimating shelf-life of chlamydospores incorporated into CFB showed that feeding of CFB stored for 5 weeks at room temperature produced almost similar results to that with feeding normal fungal blocks. Although feeding CFB stored for 10 weeks led to significant reduction in larval recovery and presence of fungus in faecal cultures during the offer period, the reduction was not as pronounced as with fresh and stored CFB. This reflected that viability of spores declined somewhat after 10-week storage of fungal blocks.
Assessment of economic losses due to GI parasitism: The estimations were made for production losses as well as for financial impact evaluation of different treatment schemes in sheep flocks by the method of partial farm budgeting. The estimated losses in sheep flocks of Rajasthan were Rs. 973.715 million / annum in adult sheep and Rs. 217.993 million / annum in yearling sheep. The cost-benefit analysis for strategic control of GIN (single drench schedule) resulted in prevention of losses to the tune of 45.53% in female and 59.00% in male sheep. The short term studies with limited numbers of animals did not give consistent results on economic losses. The economic evaluation of various schemes revealed better economic impact of TST followed by targeted approach compared to conventional drench schedule.
Observations on the effect of Fec B gene inheritance on FEC in sheep: Comparatively lower incidence was observed in Garole (~ 98% FecB inheritance) followed by Garole x Malpura (~ 55% FecB inheritance) and maximum in Malpura (nil FecB inheritance) breed. The monthly incidence of strongyle worms ranging from 33.3% (February) to 86.0% (September) in Garole, from 40.0% (January) to 94.8% (June) in Garole x Malpura and from 59.8% (January) to 94.8% (September) in Malpura sheep. The mean monthly FECs for strongyle infection varied significantly from 70.0±17.9 (May) to 1293.0±330.4 eggs per gram (epg) (July) in Garole, from 86.7±17.6 (February) to 1203.2±174.5 epg (August) in Garole x Malpura and from 178.6±18.3 to 1868.7±211.3 epg (August) in Malpura sheep. Interaction between FecB status and intensity of strongyle infection exhibited that mean FECs remained relatively at the lowest in FecB homozygous carrier sheep followed by FecB heterozygous and maximum in FecB homozygous non-carrier sheep. In FecB carrier sheep there was single peak of lower magnitude during August compared to two peaks of higher magnitude during August and October in FecB non-carrier sheep. The study concluded that Garole inheritance provides resistance to GI nematodes infection to some extent however, presence of FecB gene in Garole was not associated with intensity of infection.
Flock health and preventive medicine: The division has developed a computer based disease data information system (DDIS) for organized sheep and goat farms. This system provides facility of disease data collection, storage, processing and retrieval for future analysis.
Pathology and clinical medicine: Necropsy and histopathology were among the initial facilities developed in the Division. This enabled better diagnosis of various diseases and their pathology. Important among them investigated were the pneumonias, maedi, adenometosis, non-specific septicaemia and toxaemia, aflotoxicosis and entero-hepatopathy syndrome. Neoplastic conditions such as melanoma, fibroma, squamous cell carcinoma, synovial sarcoma and hepatic schistosomiasis were diagnosed through histopathological studies. Impact of Blue tongue virus on developing foeti was recorded and studied. The histopathological lesions of Orinjya poisoning were examined and found that lesions were similar to cyanide poisoning. In the last few years, the clinical pathology and biochemical laboratory facilities have been strengthened and this has facilitated investigation in metabolic and production diseases. The "Thin Ewe Syndrome" was studied but the results were inconclusive. This laboratory studied various haemato-biochemical levels of various body constitute during pneumonia and FMD. The haematology, protein profile and liver function tests indicated that debilated animals are anaemic with low plasma protein level, supplementation with concentrate, copper, cobalt and iron gave adequate recovery. The retrospective studies on debility revealed that it was mainly associated with suppurative pneumonia, JD, GIN, wound complication and hepatitis.
