The epidemiological patterns of Bluetongue (BT) in North Africa and Mediterranean Basin (MB) dramatically changed by emergence of subsequent episodes of novel bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes with highly pathogenic indexes and socio-economic impacts. The objective of the study was to investigate the sero-prevalence and serotype distribution of BTV in Libya. During 2015-2016, a total of 826 serum samples were collected from domestic ruminants in Libya. All sera were assayed by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (c-ELISA). C-Elisa-positive samples (43.3%; 173/400) were further analyzed by virus neutralization assay to identify BTV serotypes and determine the antibody titre of positive samples. An overall BTV sero-prevalence was 48.4% (95% CI: 45.0%-51.8%). Neutralizing antibodies were detected against the following BTV serotypes namely: BTV-1, BTV-2, BTV-3, BTV-4, BTV-9 and BTV-26. While BTV-1, BTV-2, BTV-4 and BTV-9 circulation was unsurprising as they have been responsible of the last year outbreaks in Northern African Countries, the detection of BTV-3 and BTV-26 was definitely new and concerning for the animal health of the countries facing the Mediterranean Basin. It is crucial that European and Northern African authorities collaborate in organizing common surveillance programmes to early detect novel strains or emerging serotypes in order to set up proper preventive measures, and, in case, develop specific vaccines and plan coordinated vaccination campaigns. arabic 13 English 96
Abdusalam Sharef Abdusalam Mahmoud(1-2018)

Abstract Background: Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) is a vector-borne viral disease of domestic and wild ruminants. Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) is transmitted by Culicoides spp. EHDV is a member of the Orbivirus genus within the Reoviridae family. It shares many morphological and structural characteristics with other members of the genus, such as the bluetongue virus, African horse sickness virus, and equine encephalosis virus. Aims: The purpose of our study was to investigate the epidemiological situation of EHDV in Libya in order to gain some knowledge about the presence of this virus in the country. Methods: In this study, we investigated the seroprevalence of EHDV in Libya, testing 855 blood samples collected during 2015. The samples were collected from domestic ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats) originating from 11 provinces of Libya. Sera were tested by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and positive samples confirmed by serum neutralization test. Results: The overall seroprevalence of EHDV was estimated to be 4% (95% confidence intervals = 2.8%–5.4%). Small ruminant seroprevalence was significantly (p = 0.016) higher than that found in cattle. Neutralizing antibodies against EHDV-6 were detected in a sheep from the western region of Libya. Conclusion: This study suggests that EHDV has circulated or is circulating in Libya, and sheep could play an important role in the epidemiology of EHDV, and the virus may still be circulating in North Africa. Keywords: EHD, EHDV-6, Seroprevalence, Libya.
Abdusalam Sharef Abdusalam Mahmoud(6-2021)

A total of 154 of Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates were isolated from faecal specimens of healthy cattle (n=100). Serotyping of 154 E. coli isolates indicated that 112 (72.72%) isolates were typeable, 28 (18.18%) untypeable and 14 (9.09%) were rough. The most predominant serotype observed was O22 followed by O56, O60, O120 and O1. Antibiogram pattern using a total of 25 different antibiotics indicated that high resistant was present against clindamycin, metronidazole and penicillin followed by cephalothin, neomycin, kanamycin, cephalexin, streptomycin, furazolidone and tetracycline antibiotics. The amplification of tet(A) and tet(B) resistant determinants by PCR resulted in generation of 372bp and 228, respectively. The tet(A) gene was predominant gene compared to tet(B) gene. This study using pheno-genotypic characterization indicated the presence of antimicrobial resistant E. coliisolates amongst healthy cattle, emphasizing that effective strategy should be applied to persist the efficiency along with ideal usage of novel antibiotics though minimizing the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria. arabic 11 English 82
Abdusalam Sharef Abdusalam Mahmoud(3-2020)