Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences

The objective designated to discover the analgesic effect of nefopam in the normal (non-stressed) chickens and its possible alteration due to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced oxidative stress (OS) in 7-14 day old chickens. The analgesia of nefopam has been increased by 47% in the stressed chickens by measuring the analgesic Median Effective Dose (ED₅₀) value. This value was 9.10 mg/kg, IM in the normal chickens where it became 4.80 mg/kg, IM in stressed chickens. There is a significant rise in the antinociceptive action of nefopam 18 mg/kg, IM by 88% in the stressed group of chickens in comparison with the normal one elicited by an electro-stimulation and formaldehyde 0.05 ml of 0.1% tests for induction of nociception. The observations showed several significant stimulatory modifications in the neurobehaviour when nefopam treated with a subtle dosage 1 mg/kg, IM in the stressed chickens concerning the latency to move, squares crossed and time of the tonic immobility response test. Significant damage was detected in the liver function when nefopam injected at 18 mg/kg, IM in stress chickens in comparison to normal one by 28, 33 and 65% as estimated through Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Aspartate trans-aminase (AST) and Alanine trans-aminase (ALT) concentrations in the serum, respectively. The sum of data findings indicated that H₂O₂-inducedOS increased the analgesic activity of nefopam in the chickens; despite the changes occur on the neurobehaviour and liver function. The dose of nefopam should be reduced when preparing the therapeutic regimen in the stressed animals.

Little works of literature studied the anesthetic effect of ketamine in different ages of broiler chickens, hence this study intended to examine these alterations in chickens at different ages. The doses of ketamine that causes hypnosis in 50% of the chickens (hypnotic ED50) were 7.90, 7.90 and 6.80 mg/kg, intramuscular (IM) at 10, 20 and 40-day-old chickens, respectively, whereas the doses that resulted in analgesia in 50% of the chickens (analgesic ED50) were 12.92, 12.92 and 6.50 mg/kg, IM. The onset, duration and recovery from ketamine hypnosis were in an age-dependent manner and significantly longer at 40-day-old, although the depth and sensitivity of chickens to ketamine hypnosis rises as the age advancing forward. Ketamine analgesia is more effective at 40-day-old. There are neurobehavioral deficits, according to the age of chickens when injecting ketamine in a subtle dose of 1 mg/kg, IM. The concentrations related to alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST), tested in the serum, reveal that the 40-day-old chicken group differs significantly from 10 and 20-day-old chicken’s groups which all treated with single ketamine dose (25 mg/kg, IM). In conclusion, the present work discovered that ketamine’s efficacy, including hypnosis, analgesia and neurobehavioral activity will be increased as the age is progressing, suggesting that the veterinarians need to take it into account when preparing the dose regimen of ketamine anesthesia for different ages of animals.

Toxoplasmosis is a cosmopolitan zoonotic parasitic disease of mammals and birds; human infection occurs through consumption of raw or undercooked meat. Little was known about the infection rate of T. gondii among free range local chickens (Gallus domesticus) in Duhok province. Therefore, the present study was carried out to determine the infection rate in Duhok province by using ELISA (IgG) and conventional PCR. A total of 368 blood samples were collected from free range local chickens distributed in five different areas of Duhok province during the period from November 2016 to March 2017. The collected blood samples were from different sexes (hens and cocks) and from different age groups (less than 6 months and older than 6 months). The data found that the total infection rate was (84 / 368) 22.8% by ELSIA. The presence of the infection was confirmed by PCR and DNA sequencing. In this study, there were differences from area to area in the infection rates, the highest rate was reported in Semel district at 33.7% which was significantly (p