Respiratory viral infections significantly negatively impact animal welfare and have significant financial implications in the poultry industry. This study aimed to determine the frequency of the ...most economically relevant respiratory viruses that circulated in Egyptian chicken flocks in 2022.
Chickens from 359 broiler flocks in five different Egyptian governorates in the Nile Delta (Beheira, Gharbia, Giza, Monufiya, and Qalyoubia) at marketing time (33-38 days of age) were used in this study. Combined oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs and tissue samples were collected from clinically diseased or freshly dead birds suffering from respiratory disease. Avian influenza (AI)-H5, AI-H9, Newcastle disease (ND), and infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) were analyzed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.
Of the 359 flocks examined, 293 tested positive, whereas 66 were completely negative for the four viruses evaluated, with the highest positive results in Beheira. Out of 293 positive flocks, 211 were positive for a single virus, with Beheira having the highest rate, followed by Qalyoubia, Giza, and Monufiya. ND virus (NDV) was found to be the highest across all governorates, followed by IBV, AI-H9, and AI-H5. A double infection was detected in 73 flocks with either H9 or ND, or both H9 and IB could coinfect each other. The most common viral coinfections were H9 + IB, ND + IB, and ND + H9. Giza had the highest prevalence of ND + H9, H9 + IB, and ND + IB coinfection in the governorates, followed by Monufiya and Beheira. Only six out of 359 flocks were tribally infected with ND + H9 + IB in Giza, Monufiya, and Beheira governorates. On the basis of the number of flocks and the month of the year, July had the lowest number of flocks (23), while September and October had the highest number (48 flocks). Positive flock numbers were highest in October and lowest in January.
From January to October 2022, prevalent respiratory viral infections (H5N1, NDV, H9N2, and IBV) were detected in broiler chickens across the Delta area governorate, according to the findings of the present study. In addition, IBV and H9, either alone or in combination, significantly contributed to the respiratory infection observed in broiler chickens. Regardless of the type and origin of the vaccine used, it is not possible to protect broiler chickens from the development of the infection and the subsequent dissemination of the virus into the poultry environment. In the presence of face-infectious field virus mutations, poultry vaccinations must be regularly reviewed and updated, and poultry farms must take further biosecurity measures.
Aspergillosis is a disease that affects several species of birds and causes substantial losses in the poultry business. The purpose of the investigation was to identify the pathogen responsible for a ...respiratory outbreak among juvenile ducklings.
An epidemic of Aspergillosis infected a total of 800 Muscovy ducks that were being reared in El-Beheira Governorate. Tissue samples were obtained to isolate suspected fungi from diseased birds and the hatchery environment. In addition, identification and molecular characterization were performed on the obtained fungal isolates.
Affected birds displayed acute respiratory manifestations such as difficulty breathing, gasping for air, nasal discharge, and a mortality rate of up to 28.1%. Postmortem examination revealed bronchitis, tracheitis, congested lungs, air sacculitis, severe multifocal granulomatous pneumonia, a congested, enlarged liver, and a congested kidney with nephritis. Mycological examination revealed seven
(
spp. isolates from ducklings and six from hatcheries. Isolate colonial morphology and microscopical examination were as follows:
, and four untypable isolates. These isolates were further identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the internal transcribed spacers (ITSs) gene was detected. Four representative isolates were submitted for sequencing and further phylogenetic analysis. The source of duckling infection might be linked to the hatchery environment due to the observed similarity of isolates from both affected birds and the hatchery, as evidenced by phylogenetic analysis.
Our findings demonstrated the significance of appropriate hatchery control in preventing infection in young ducklings. Furthermore, the use of molecular identification techniques would be helpful for tracing the source of infection and rapid diagnosis of
in the field.
Objective:
The aim of our study is to assess the clinico-electrophysiological profile of children with Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) in Upper Egypt and to compare the efficacy of plasmapheresis versus ...other treatment modalities.
Patients and methods:
This was a retrospective study of children from January 2010 to October 2014 diagnosed as GBS. It included 62 cases.
Results:
Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) was the most prevalent type of GBS in our locality. As regards the treatment, 32 cases received plasmapheresis while 30 patients received intravenous immunoglobulin. We found a significant decrease in the duration of hospitalization and a significant increase in the number of children with complete recovery in cases treated with plasmapheresis.
Conclusion:
GBS is not uncommon in children of Upper Egypt, with AIDP the most prevalent type. Plasmapheresis is the best treatment modalities for GBS as it reduces the duration of hospital stay and hastens the recovery of those children.
Objectives The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome of the recalled upper minimally invasive aortic valve replacement (MIAVR) J-shaped technique and full standard median sternotomy techniques ...aortic valve replacement (AVR). Background Over the past 20 years, MIAVR has evolved into a safe, well-tolerated, and efficient surgical treatment option for aortic valve disease. It has been shown to reduce postoperative morbidity, providing faster recovery and rehabilitation, shorter hospital stays, and better cosmetic results, as it reduces the incidences of wound infection owing to small incision length, especially in our diabetic fatty Egyptian female patients. Patients and methods Between September 2017 and March 2019, this study included 50 patients with isolated aortic valve disease. A total of 25 patients (group A) underwent (MIAVR) J-shaped technique and 25 patients (group B) underwent standard AVR, and they were compared with each other. Results In operative data, there were highly significant differences between both groups regarding aortic cross-clamp time, total bypass time, and total operative time (P < 0.001). In postoperative data, there were highly significant differences regarding total hospital stay, pain score in the first, second, third, and fourth day to hospital discharge; and patient satisfaction (P < 0.001). There was a significant difference in duration of ICU stay (P = 0.033). There were no mortalities in both groups. Conclusion MIAVR is a feasible procedure despite the narrow operative field that induced long operative times. It is safe with minimal postoperative morbidities, early rehabilitation, and less postoperative pain. Moreover, MIAVR provided cosmetically better wound results, which was immensely satisfying to the patients.
Low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H9N2 virus is one of the major poultry pathogens associated with severe economic losses in the poultry industry (broiler, layers, breeders, and grandparents' ...flocks), especially in endemic regions including the Middle East, North Africa, and Asian countries. This work is an attempt to evaluate the efficacy of whole inactivated H9N2 vaccine (MEFLUVAC
H9) in turkey poults kept under laboratory and commercial farm conditions. Here, 10,000 white turkey poults (1-day old) free from maternally derived immunity against H9N2 virus were divided into four groups; G1 involved 10 vaccinated birds kept under biosafety level-3 (BLS-3) as a laboratory vaccinated and challenged group, while G2 had 9970 vaccinated turkeys raised on a commercial farm. Ten of those birds were moved to BLS-3 for daily cloacal and tracheal swabbing to check for the absence of any life-threating disease, before conducting analyses. G3 (10 birds) served as a non-vaccinated challenged control under BSL-3 conditions, while G4 (10 birds) was used as a non-vaccinated and non-challenged control under BSL-3 conditions. Sera were collected on days 7-, 14-, 21-, and 28-post-vaccinations to monitor the humoral immune response using a hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test. At these same intervals, cloacal and tracheal swabs were also checked for any viral infection. The challenge was conducted 28 days post-vaccination (PV) using AI-H9N2 in BSL-3 by intranasal inoculation of 6-log10 embryo infective dose
(EID
). At 3-, 6-, and 10-days post-challenge, oropharyngeal swabs were taken from challenged birds to quantify viral shedding by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The results of this study showed that vaccinated groups (G1/2) developed HI titers of 1.38, 4.38, 5.88, and 7.25 log
in G1 vs. 1.2, 3.8, 4.9 and 6.2 log
in G2 when measured at 7-, 14-, 21- and 28-days PV, respectively, while undetectable levels were recorded in non-vaccinated groups (G3/4). Birds in G3 showed 90% clinical sickness vs. 10% and 20% in G1/2, respectively, over a 10-day monitoring period following challenge. Vaccinated birds showed a significant reduction in virus shedding in terms of the number of shedders, amount of shed virus and shedding interval over the non-vaccinated challenged birds. Regarding mortality, all groups did not show any mortality, which confirms that the circulating H9N2 virus still has low pathogenicity and cannot cause mortality. However, the virus may cause up to 90% clinical sickness in non-vaccinated birds vs. 10% and 20% in laboratory- and farm-vaccinated birds, respectively, highlighting the role of the vaccine in limiting clinical sickness cases. In conclusion, under the current trial circumstances, MEFLUVAC
-H9 provided protective seroconversion titers, significant clinical sickness protection and significant reduction in virus shedding either in laboratory- or farm-vaccinated groups after a single vaccine dose.
Ninety children infected with Cryptosporidium parvum attending Al-Azhar University Teaching Hospital (Assuit) were chosen (60 males & 30 females) with age range from 6 months to ten years. The ...patients were divided into two groups of 45 patients for each (G1 & G2). All patients suffered from chronic diarrhea for more than fifteen days. Cross-matched 45 children suffering from chronic diarrhea were used as a control group (G3). Stool samples were collected and examined for detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts using Sheather's sugar and Modified Ziehl-Nelseen stain techniques. The first group (G1) received Nitazoxanide (100 mg and 200 mg every 12 hours for 3 days for children aged 6 months to 3 years and chil dren aged 4 to 10 years respectively), G2 received Paromomycin (25 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks). Third group received placebo. Significant improvement and shortening of the duration of diarrhea occur in G1; of 45 patients received Nitazoxanide 39 cases showed complete clinical and laboratory cure (86.6%), 5 cases showed clinical improvement with reduction in the number of oocysts and 1 case showed no cure. In G2 of 45 cases received Paromomycin 31 cases showed complete cure (68.8%), 8 cases showed clinical improvement with reduction of oocysts number and 6 cases were not cured. Nitazoxanide proved highly effective than Paromomycin in cryptosporidiosis.
Salmonellosis is an important zoonotic disease of chickens that poses a serious threat to the poultry industry in developing countries, especially in Egypt. This study aimed to isolate and identify ...Salmonella (S.) from commercial broiler chickens, in addition to serological and molecular evaluation of the immunocompromising effect of S. Enteritidis. Out of 246 samples collected from broiler chicken farms, the prevalence of Salmonella was 4.1% (8/192), 6.4% (2/31), (0/7), (0/7), (0/5), and (0/4) in the cecum, liver, gallbladder, air sacs, spleen, and pericardium samples, respectively. Those ten isolates were obtained from 88 broiler flocks, representing 11.36% (10/88), and all were characterized as S. Enteritidis (1,9,12:g,m). Their in-vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed high resistance (100%) to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, streptomycin, erythromycin, clindamycin, doxycycline, fosfomycin, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. All S. Enteritidis isolates carried three virulence genes, i.e., invA, sefA, and fimH, while stn was detected in 7 isolates. Additionally, all isolates harbored Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)-producing (blaTEM ) and sul1 antimicrobial resistance genes. Following experimental infection with an S. Enteritidis isolate in broilers at seven days old and routine vaccinations using an inactivated and live LaSota, Newcastle vaccines, severe immunocompromising effects were observed in terms of antibody response to vaccination, as well as several immune mediators such as nitric oxide, lysozyme, IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 as well as phagocytic count. In conclusion, S. Enteritidis carrying several virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes was characterized from cecal and liver samples collected from different broiler flocks. Infection with S. Enteritidis induced a prolonged inflammatory response and negatively affected the broilers’ immune response to Newcastle disease vaccination.
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