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Confirmation of glanders has not been possible in suspected cases submitted by field veterinarians, mainly due to the lack of diagnostic tools in Nepal. In view, however, of the re-emergence of glanders in India and the unrestricted migration of equines from there in to Nepal, an outbreak of Glanders in the short term is a distinct possibility. Such an event would affect the rural, marginalized community, and brick kiln industries. Therefore, due attention on the national epidemiological study and strengthened animal quarantine system with holding yards and laboratory backups are highly requested. Besides, the government's timely action on disease prevalence, monitoring, and disease reporting is utmost important besides widespread public awareness to prevent the entry and control the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small densely populated country of Nepal rises from just above sea level to more than 8800 m and encompasses many agro-ecological zones. Rich in both nature and culture, livestock are integral to household and national economies. Most Nepalese consider the cow sacred, and slaughter is forbidden. Other nonhuman animals are less esteemed, slaughter is not proscribed, and many are sacrificed during religious festivals. Limited financial and material resources, inadequate feed supplies, poor access to veterinary services, absence of appropriate legislation, and ignoring the needs of livestock as sentient beings can compromise welfare and lead to inhumane treatment. This article reviews the welfare status of various groups (food-producing stock, work animals, street dogs, experimental animals, and elephants in captivity). Several animal welfare charities are represented. Suggestions for improved welfare are discussed, but the prognosis is not encouraging especially in view of the widespread struggle and people's own struggle for survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine sero-prevalence of bluetongue virus (BTV) among of different ecological zones of Nepal. A total of 342 goat serum samples were tested by using c-ELISA for the presence of antibodies against BTV. Out of the total 342 serum samples tested, 130 were positive giving an overall sero-prevalence of 38.01%. Significantly higher sero-prevalence was found (p < 0.01) in Rupandehi District (65.11%) compared with Mustang District (25.61%) and Tanahu District (16.30%). Higher sero-prevalence was observed in females (38.43%) compared with their male counterparts (35.41%) but was statistically non-significant. Thus, the goat population in Rupandehi District are at high risk of acquiring bluetongue virus infection. Following an appropriate preventive measures and trans-boundary animal movement regulation can prevent the potential outbreak of disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory diseases cause severe distress leading to serious effects on production characteristics of pigs. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mh) is one of the primary contributors of porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC). A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the sero-prevalence and associated risk factors of enzootic pneumonia (EP) caused by Mh in Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts of Nepal. The herd level information of the site was gathered using standardized questionnaire survey. A total of 184 porcine serum samples were collected randomly and tested by using competitive ELISA targeting anti-Mh antibodies. Of the total 184, 42 samples were tested positive resulting overall sero-prevalence of 22.83%. The husbandry practices, modern and semi-conventional, continuous and all-in all-out systems were found as the potential risk factors of EP in pigs. Significantly higher risk was observed in continuous production system (32%) as compared to all-in all-out (11.11%). Likewise, pen partitioning was also found to be associated with increased risk of the disease occurrence. Higher prevalence was observed in pigs in semisolid partition (34.95%) compared to solid partition (18.18%), improved breeds (27.46%) compared to local breeds (7.14%), and highest among growing age group (36.36%) than in the rest of the others. Thus, consideration of environmental and management factors for the prevention EP transmission in commercial pig farms is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April of 2015, a massive earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks stroked entire country. Geophysical disasters not only create economic crisis but also cause changes in disease ecology. Tularemia is a zoonotic disease with range of pathogenicity in different animal species. This study was designed to identify the disease status of tularemia in different species of murine rodents of Chitwan District of Nepal. Once the rodents were recovered from metal traps, they were euthanized by injectable anesthesia overdose followed by cervical dislocation. Blood was collected from the heart, and serum was isolated. Presence of tularemia antibodies in the serum was tested by using immunochromatographic test kit containing bacterial lipopolysaccharides. Of the total 80 serum samples tested, 1 sample was found tularemia positive, i.e., apparent prevalence 1.25% (95% CI, i.e., normal approx. CL, − 1.18 to 3.68%) and the true prevalence 0.5024% (95% CI, i.e., Blacker CL, 0 to 5.45%). Likewise, 23.75% (95% CI, i.e., normal approx. CL, 14.42 to 33.08%) of the animals were found with a few to numerous whitish/grayish or yellowish foci and 13.75% (95% CI, i.e., normal approx. CL, 6.2 to 21.3%) of animals with cystic lesions in their liver parenchyma. The location's prevalence was 3.70% for Bharatpur, while nil for the rest of the areas and the difference was statistically insignificant (*P > 0.05). This evidence of existence of Francisella tularensis in Nepal is expected to evoke public interest at different levels. Food and commodities contaminated with secretions and excretions of rats and mice are strongly suggested to avoid as a safety measure to rodents born infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging pandemics: Lesson for one-health approach For example Bubonic Plague of 1665, Spanish flu of 1918, SARS-CoV of 2002-2003, H SB 1 sb N SB 1 sb influenza of 2009, Zika pandemics of 2013 and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Till now, holistic systems of integrating human health, animal health and environment-related disciplines have not been implemented. (2018). 1918 Pandemic (H1N1 virus)|Pandemic Influenza (Flu)|CDC. [Extracted from the article]

Understanding how wide-ranging animals use landscapes in which human use is highly heterogeneous is important for determining patterns of human-wildlife conflict and designing mitigation strategies. Here, we show how biological sign surveys in forested components of a human-dominated landscape can be combined with human interviews in agricultural portions of a landscape to provide a full picture of seasonal use of different landscape components by wide-ranging animals and resulting human-wildlife conflict. We selected Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Nepal to illustrate this approach. Asian elephants are threatened throughout their geographic range, and there are large gaps in our understanding of their landscape-scale habitat use. We identified all potential elephant habitat in Nepal and divided the potential habitat into sampling units based on a 10 km by 10 km grid. Forested areas within grids were surveyed for signs of elephant use, and local villagers were interviewed regarding elephant use of agricultural areas and instances of conflict. Data were analyzed using single-season and multi-season (dynamic) occupancy models. A single-season occupancy model applied to data from 139 partially or wholly forested grid cells estimated that 0.57 of grid cells were used by elephants. Dynamic occupancy models fit to data from interviews across 158 grid cells estimated that monthly use of non-forested, human-dominated areas over the preceding year varied between 0.43 and 0.82 with a minimum in February and maximum in October. Seasonal patterns of crop raiding by elephants coincided with monthly elephant use of human-dominated areas, and serious instances of human-wildlife conflict were common. Efforts to mitigate human-elephant conflict in Nepal are likely to be most effective if they are concentrated during August through December when elephant use of human-dominated landscapes and human-elephant conflict are most common. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on density and abundance of globally threatened species such as tigers Panthera tigris is essential for effective conservation as well as to evaluate the success of conservation programmes. We monitored tigers in Parsa Widlife Reserve, Nepal, using camera traps, in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Once believed to be a sink for tigers from adjacent Chitwan National Park, Parsa now provides a new hope for tigers. Spatially explicit capture–recapture analysis over 3 survey years revealed an increase in tiger density from 0.78 to 1.38 individuals per 100 km2 from 2013 to 2016. The tiger abundance was estimated to be seven (6–13), 11 (10–16) and 17 (17–20) in 2013, 2014 and 2016, respectively. Resettlement of communities from the core area, reduced anthropogenic pressure, and improved security have made Parsa Wildlife Reserve a suitable habitat for tigers. Tiger abundance increased considerably within a 5 km radius of the evacuated village sites, from two in 2013 to eight in 2014 and 10 in 2016. Population turnover has remained moderate (< 30% per year), with persistence of individuals in multiple years. Dispersing tigers from Chitwan's source population accounted for a large portion (c. 40%) of the tigers detected in Parsa. Conservation efforts along with annual monitoring should be continued in Parsa to sustain the increase and monitor the persistence of tigers. The Chitwan–Parsa complex should be managed as a single ecological unit for conserving the Endangered tiger and other wide-ranging species. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fragmented forests and heterogeneous landscapes are likely to have less natural vegetation and smaller core areas, a low degree of landscape connectivity, high prevalence of anthropogenic edges, and high landscape heterogeneity, which may alter—at varying degrees—behavior of wildlife species such as attacks on humans. We evaluated whether or not forest fragmentation (e.g. shape, size and distribution of forest patches measured as landscape shape index, effective mesh size, and landscape heterogeneity), habitats (proportion of bush and grassland, distance to water sources), and human disturbances (human population density) have a significant relationship with frequencies of human deaths and injuries by Bengal tiger ( Panthera tigris tigris ), common leopard ( Panthera pardus ), one-horned rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis ) and Asiatic elephant ( Elephas maximus ). Data on human injury and death were obtained from a national survey over five years (2010–2014). The relationship between wildlife attacks and landscape attributes were investigated using a zero-inflated Poisson regression model. Attacks by tigers were significantly and positively associated with forest fragmentation (effective mesh size which is high in a landscape consisting of disconnected small patches). Attacks by common leopards were strongly positively related with landscape heterogeneity, and negatively related to the proportion of bush and grassland. Attacks by one-horned rhinoceros were positively significantly related to the distance to water sources, and proportion of bush and grassland in the landscape. Attacks by elephants were strongly and positively associated with the forest fragmentation (landscape shape index, which increases as patches in the landscapes becomes disaggregated). These results suggest that forest fragmentation is inevitably a critical driver of human–wildlife conflicts, although the extent of effects varies depending on species specific habitat requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]