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The occurrence of Setaria digitata in a horse is reported for the first time in Malaysia. An 8-year-old Thoroughbred cross mare was referred to the University Veterinary Clinic with the primary complaint of corneal opacity and excessive eye discharge. After initial treatment with Terramycin eye ointment, corneal opacity cleared partially to reveal a moving thread-like cylindrical worm in the anterior chamber of the eye. The parasite was successfully removed surgically, and examination under the light microscope revealed that the isolated worm (length = 45 mm) was a 5th stage larva of S. digitata based on morphological criteria. Confirmation of the species of the worm was through molecular methods. The 12S rRNA gene was PCR-amplified, and the purified amplicon was directly sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the isolated roundworm showed 100% sequence similarity with that of S. digitata in NCBI GenBank database (Accession no.: KY284626.1). This report is the first confirmed case of equine ocular setariasis by S. digitata in Malaysia. The current study provides evidence that S. digitata is an etiological agent of ocular infection and its presence in Malaysia.

A virus, named Oya virus, was isolated in Vero cell cultures from the lungs of a pig suspected of Nipah virus infection. The virus was revealed as a spherical enveloped RNA virus with a diameter of 79 nm. For identification of Oya virus, RT-PCR was performed. A common primer set for S-RNA of the Simbu serogroup of the genus Bunyavirus was able to amplify a cDNA from Oya virus RNA. The sequence data of the product revealed that the partial gene of Oya virus S-RNA segment had 65-70% homology with published cDNA sequences of Simbu serogroup viruses. The phylogenetic analysis of the data showed that the Oya virus is grouped in Simbu serogroup, but is genetically distinct from the serogroup viruses that have been analyzed molecularly. Serological surveys revealed that the virus distributed widely and densely in Malaysia.

Introduction Salmonella Paratyphi A (S. Paratyphi A) causes paratyphoid fever, a disease endemic in developing countries. It is transmitted via the faecal-oral route, mainly through contaminated food and water. The prevalence or incidence of the disease is increasing especially in China, India and Asia. Current diagnosis of S. Paratyphi A is via culture and molecular methods such as PCR. However, these methods do not offer a rapid, simple, and cost-effective detection of S. Paratyphi A especially for use in resource-limited settings. Objective The study was aimed at developing an in-house LAMP method as a rapid, sensitive, specific and cost-effective detection of S. Paratyphi A. Methods An In-house LAMP method was developed and optimized for the detection of S. Paratyphi A using primers that were designed based on intergenic region of SSPA1723a and SSPA1723 gene of S. Paratyphi A. The primers' specificity was tested on 60 bacteria strains consisting of 25 S. Paratyphi A, 20 other Salmonella serovars, and 15 non-Salmonella bacteria which were obtained from Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM) culture bank. Detection limit of LAMP was determined using 10-fold serial dilutions of S. Paratyphi A strain DNA and compared with culture and PCR results. The assay was further evaluated on 60 BACTEC blood culture broths suspected of S. Paratyphi A. The results were compared with those obtained by PCR assay and culture method. Results & Discussion In-house LAMP method was successfully established and optimized. The sensitivity of the assay was determined at 200 CFU. This LAMP assay gave positive result to all the 25 S. Paratyphi A isolates and negative to 20 other Salmonella and 15 non-Salmonella bacteria. This assay detected 8 samples as positive and 52 samples as negative for S. Paratyphi A. These results were similar to those results obtained by PCR assay and culture methods. Conclusion An in-house LAMP method was established in this study and could potentially be used as a rapid, sensitive, specific and cost-effective detection method for S. Paratyphi A especially in low-resource settings. However this LAMP method is only recommended for screening purposes and need to be further confirmed with gold standard method which is culture method and PCR.

Introduction Salmonella Typhi (S.Typhi) is a causative agent for typhoid fever, a major health problem especially in developing countries. In Malaysia, the disease is still an endemic with the occurrence of 1–4 cases per 100,000 populations reported from year 1996–2006. Early detection of the agent is important since immediate treatment given to the patients will save many lives. However, current methods for the diagnosis of S.Typhi did not satisfy the requirements for a rapid, simple, and cost-effective detection mode. Objective Our study is aimed to develop an in-house LAMP method for a rapid, sensitive, specific and cost-effective detection of S.Typhi. Methods An In-house method of LAMP was developed and optimized using genomic DNA of Salmonella Typhi ATCC7251. The test was further evaluated for its specificity, sensitivity and application on field samples. The result was compared with those obtained by PCR assay and culture method. Results & Discussion In-house LAMP method has been successfully developed and optimized. This LAMP method was shown to be more sensitive than PCR assay and highly specific where no cross-reactivity was observed with other tested bacteria. Results of LAMP on clinical samples were in accordance to the results obtained by PCR assay and culture method. Conclusion In-house LAMP method developed in this study can potentially be used as a rapid, sensitive, specific and cost-effective detection of Salmonella Typhi especially at low-resource settings. However, this LAMP method need to be further validated using larger number of clinical samples.