Ajith jacob George

Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University | KVASU · Department of Veterinary Pathology

Rabies is zoonotic viral encephalitis targeting the nervous system of several vertebrates and transmitted mostly through the saliva of the infected host causing extensive neurological dysfunction. In this study, 873 post-mortem examinations of different species of animals were done in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, Pookode and 17.64% were...

The present report details the occurrence of canine mammary tumours presented at Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, Pookode during a period of one year.Among the 22 proliferative growths from the mammary region studied, the number of hyperplastic proliferation and malignant neoplasms was one and 21, respectively. Most of the female dogs (90.9%)...

The life-threatening emergency of feline pyothorax is one that small animal veterinarians frequently deal with. An eight-month-old female Persian cat was presented with the history of dyspnoea, nasal discharge, vomiting, diarrhoea, severe emaciation and weight loss. Animal was under treatment for respiratory distress for six days and collapsed. At...

Post-mortem interval (PMI) is the time elapsed between death and the discovery of the body and its estimation is crucial in forensic pathology investigations. Numerous methods are available for PMI estimation. In humans, the vitreous potassium concentration (K +) has shown promise. The usefulness of the method in the estimation of PMI in dogs is ex...

A two months old crossbred kid was presented with a complaint of alopecia and severe pruritus over the dorsal aspect of the body since one month. Ulcerative lesions were noted on the dorsal aspect of the neck and extensive moist pruritic lesions were observed on lateral thigh and base of the tail. Cytological evaluation of skin impression revealed...

Mammary neoplasms, are the second most common canine cancer type that pose a significant health concern for the dogs. This research explores the prevalence and identifies various risk factors associated with their occurrence. Among 45 confirmed cases, mammary tumors were most common in dogs aged 8 to 12 years. Female dogs were more susceptible, att...

The study was conducted in samples of mammary carcinomas obtained from dogs that were brought to University Veterinary Hospitals, Mannuthy and Kokkalai during a study period of one year. The study employed cytological grading system proposed by Robinson., et al. (1994) in human breast carcinomas (HBCs) with necessary modifications. Histopathologica...

The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis is suppressed by pro-inflammatory mediators in systemic disease, which affects the thyroid hormone level. Canine parvovirus is one of the important infectious diseases which causes profound morbidity as well as mortality in dogs. It is found that canine parvovirus infection can result in non-thyroidal sicknes...

Testicular atrophy is a condition impairing the reproductive health of male chicken. Lithiasis or stone formation in testicles or epididymis adds to the gravity of the problem. The present study describes a case of unilateral testicular atrophy with epididymal lithiasis in a one-year-old male Gramasree cock. The carcass, was brought to the Departme...

Marek’s disease is one of the highly contagious and oncogenic diseases of poultry that remains as a threat to the fast-growing poultry sector, even after proper vaccination. Generally, the disease is identified incidentally during the routine postmortem examination as nerve enlargement or as gross tumor lesions. The present article discusses the ou...

The eyelid tumours are uncommon in dogs. In the present study, out of 102 ocular and adnexal samples from the dogs examined for a period of 2.5 years, 11 cases (10.78 per cent) were neoplastic in nature. The major location of the neoplasms was eyelids (8/11). One case (0.98 per cent) was diagnosed as pigmented sebaceous gland epithelioma. The tumou...

Desmoplastic reactions or desmoplasia, characterised by proliferation of fibrotic connective tissue around tumour cells, have been described as a prognostic indicator of malignancy in human breast cancers. Desmoplasia ultimately results in deposition of collagen that shows significant differences in its density and orientation at different stages o...

Cancer associated stroma (CAS) consists mainly of a cellular fraction comprising fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, inflammatory cells, immune cells, endothelial cells, adipocytes and extracellular matrix (ECM). Recent reports have shown that the cancer stroma including the cellular fraction and ECM undergo considerable reprogramming during the process o...

Gastroenteritis in swine herds pose a big constraint in pig farming due to the economic losses accompanying it. The present study utilised 57 pig carcasses to assess the occurrence and distribution of various gastrointestinal lesions in pigs in Northern Kerala. Gross changes in stomach were observed in 84.21 per cent of carcasses in which mucosal c...

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), predominantly caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is one of the most neglected zoonotic diseases of cattle. The lack of documented information on bTB is one of the most important hurdles in controlling the disease. The present study was carried out to detect the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) from blood...

Background: Hemangiosarcoma is defined as the malignant mesenchymal neoplasm of endothelial cells. It is a common tumor affecting dogs and is very rare in cattle. Case description: A seven-year-old three months pregnant female Holstein Friesian cross-breed cow was presented with a history of a proliferating irregular dark red friable mass in the...

Brain is a vital organ that always has high oxygen demands and is highly vulnerable to injury caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). The hippocampus is a complex structure seen deep in the temporal lobe which is constituted by the dentate gyrus, hippocampus proper (Cornu Ammonis- CA1-CA4) and subiculum. The important functions of the hippocampus...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the astrocytic reaction in infected brains of dogs in that had been afflicted with the furious and paralytic form of rabies. Brain samples from 23 dogs that were positive for rabies were collected along with six brain samples that were negative for rabies. GFAP (Glial fibrillary acidic protein), specific astroc...

A female racing homer was brought for a necropsy with a clinical history of vomiting blood-tinged fluid followed by sudden death. The major gross lesions observed during the necropsy were numerous nematodes in proventriculus, gizzard and intestine and haemorrhages in the intestine. The nematodes were identified as Ascaridia columbae. On the histolo...

Visceral gout is a metabolic disease of birds characterized by deposition of urate crystals in visceral organs. Though occurrence of visceral gout is common in chicken, reports from ducks and descriptions of its renal pathology are scarce. The present study describes visceral gout in Kuttanad duck, a native breed and in a White Pekin duck. A Kuttan...

A battery of in vivo evaluations is done on bioscaffolds to ascertain its biocompatibility and host responses. Fibroblast proliferation in a controlled manner is integral part in scaffold assisted wound healing and tissue regeneration. Therefore, AgNOR staining was employed in this study for quantification of fibroblast proliferation and therefore...

Rabies is one among the most dangerous diseases reported to have a wider range of incubation period and clinical signs. The disease is manifested as furious or paralytic forms in dogs. The combined effects of virulence and pathogenicity of the virus along with host immune factors are the main variables leading to variation in manifestation of the d...

Free living feral pigs are known reservoirs of various pathogens. Post-mortem examination of the carcass of a wild boar in the Department of Veterinary Pathology revealed worms in the lower trachea and bronchi, along with adult round worms in the stomach. The worms in the respiratory tract and stomach were identified as Metastrongylus sp. and Gnath...

A report of occurrence of osseous metaplasia associated with avian lymphoid leukosis

Background: Triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are having high morbidity and shorter survival rate in the population. These types of cancers are having high aggressiveness, lymphatic invasion and absence of receptors. The treatment options for these types of cancers are also scarce. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the effect...

Duck farming is very popular in various parts of the world. Even though ducks are highly predisposed to amyloidosis, study on histological grading of amyloidosis and its correlation with gross findings in the visceral organs are scarce. In the current study, we necropsied 112 duck carcasses over a period of one year and the occurrence of hepatic am...

Background: Aflatoxins (AF) are a major threat in tropical and sub-tropical countries and causes aflatoxicosis in poultry. The deleterious effect of AF are minimised by the addition of various hepatoprotectants. Study was undertaken to find out the effect of Aegle marmelos and Andrographis paniculata on aflatoxicosis of broiler chicken. Methods: Fo...

Canine mammary tumours are the most commonly occurring tumours in dogs. The present study was aimed at determining the epidemiological characteristics of canine mammary tumours that were reported in and around Wayanad, Kerala over a period of one year (August 2017 to June 2018). The study included 40 excisional biopsy samples of intact female dogs...

Aflatoxins are highly toxic metabolites produced by Aspergillus species fungi. Major forms of aflatoxins are B1, B2, G1 and G2. Aflatoxin metabolism occurs in two phases known as Phase I and Phase II. Phase I metabolism of AFB1 is carried out mainly by members of the CYP450 super family of microsomal enzymes and it involves hydroxylation, hydration...

Cholangiocellular carcinomas are malignant tumors of biliary epithelium which usually arise from intrahepatic and extra hepatic bile ducts. These neoplasms occur frequently in ducks. Single or multiple nodules may be present within the liver, which are typically firm, raised, often with central depression (umbilicated), pale gray to tan colored. Th...

Background: We aimed to focus on the ixodid ticks parasitizing wild mammals and reptiles from Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghat, southern India. Methods: The taxonomic identification of ticks collected from wild mammals and reptiles was performed based on the morphology of adults. Results: We revealed eight species of ticks including, Amblyo...

Aegle marmeloes L. (L.), belonging to Rutaceae family, is a widely used medicinal plant. This plant is known to possess hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, radio protective, anti-oxidative and anticancer activities. The present study is aimed to find out the important phytochemicals present in Aegle marmeloes L. (L.) leaves using FTIR a...

Andrographis paniculata L. (L.). belonging to Acanthaceae family is a widely used medicinal plant. This plant is known to possess anti-microbial, cytotoxicity, anti-protozoan, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, immunostimulant, anti-diabetic, anti-infective, anti-angiogenic, hepato-renal protective, sex hormone/sexual function modulation, liver enzym...

A 10 year old dog was presented for necropsy with the history of sudden death. Post mortem examination revealed congestion with areas of red hepatisation in lungs. . The left inguinal mammary gland was diffusely enlarged and the cut section revealed hemorrhagic areas with cystic spaces. Large numbers of pleomorphic cells were observed in impression...

Coccidiosis is one of the economically important protozoan disease of animals. Rabbits and goats cases between February 2012 and February 2015 as per the autopsy register of the department of Veteri nary Pathology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy were analysed. It was found that 9.3% of rabbits and 9.1% of goats were positive fo...

The present study was carried out to assess the degree of pathogenicity of E.coli, isolated from the GI tract of piglets . All the mice inoculated with E.coli isolates died within 36 hours. Post-mortem examination of the mice revealed lesions similar to that observed in most of the natural infection cases in piglets. The E.coli were re-isolated fro...

Carcass of a two years old doe on necropsy revealed multiple gray-white nodular lesions of about 2 cm diameter in the lung. The pre-scapular lymph node was about 3-5cm in diameter, hard in consistency and had a creamy-white cut surface. Cytological examination of impression smear from the lungs and pre-scapular lymph node revealed anisocytosis, ani...

A study was conducted to assess pathological alterations and the presence AF residues in the tissues of layer birds fed with 1 and 1.5 ppm dietary levels of AF for 21 days. The treated birds showed irregular areas of calcium deposits on egg shell. The histological alterations like biliary hyperplasia and fatty change in liver and diffuse tubular de...

A study was conducted to assess changes in egg production and egg quality traits induced by 1 and 1.5 ppm dietary levels of aflatoxin in Athulya layer birds fed for 21 days. The egg quality traits were assessed daily. Significant differences were not observed in hen day egg production and egg quality traits like shape index, albumen index, yolk ind...

Out of the 50 pigs which were brought for post mortem examination during the study period of five years (2006-2010), nine (18%) were confirmed as swine fever. Gross and histopathological lesions were attributed to vascular changes as the virus is endotheliotropic and lymphotropic. The lymphoid cell depletion resulted in immunosuppression and contri...

Splenic abscess is an uncommon condition in dogs. A 10-year-old German Shepherd dog was presented to the small animal medical unit of the University Veterinary Hospital, Mannuthy, with the history of anorexia. Abdominal palpation revealed splenomegaly and on ultrasonography a circumscribed mixed echogenic mass was noticed within splenic parenchyma....

Splenic abscess is an uncommon condition in dogs. A 10-year-old German Shepherd dog was presented to the small animal medical unit of the University Veterinary Hospital, Mannuthy, with the history of anorexia. Abdominal palpation revealed splenomegaly and on ultrasonography a circumscribed mixed echogenic mass was noticed within splenic parenchyma....

A concurrent occurrence of nephroblastoma and lymphoid leucosis is reported in the article

The hepatotoxic potential of azithromycin and the ameliorative role of vitamin E in azithromycin induced toxicity were studied in adult Wistar rats. The study also assessed the effectiveness of pretreatment and posttreatment of Vitamin E in protecting against the injury caused. Azithromycin at 30mg/kg and Vitamin E at 50 IU/kg were administered ora...

A case of calcinosis in two adult female rabbits is being reported. Grossly, kidney was hard and congested with thick pitted surface. Congestion and focal areas of mineralization were prominent on the hepatic surface and gastric mucosa. Histologically, kidneys showed diffuse tubular calcification and fibrous tissue proliferation. Gastric mucosa and...

Toxicological potential of Chromolaena odorata, a fast growing perennial weed was assessed in mice. Methanolic extract of C. odorata did not cause any mortality of mice. However, the oral feeding of extract resulted in sedation, loss of appetite, enteritis and decreased weight gain in treated mice. Significant elevation (P<0.05) of the serum glutam...

A study was conducted to assess haematobiochemical changes induced by 1 and 1.5 ppm dietary levels of aflatoxin in Athulya layer birds fed for 21 days. The treated birds showed irregular areas of calcium deposits on egg shell. The values of haemoglobin, volume of packed red cells, total erythrocyte count and total leukocyte count were significantly...

An integrated farming system consists of a range of resource-saving practices that aim to achieve acceptable profits, high sustained levels of production and preserving the environment, while minimizing the negative effects of intensive farming. This paper presents insights into integrated farming systems of crops with allied enterprises, implement...

A case of gastric impaction and resultant systemic toxemia in an Indian Rock Python is being reported. Grossly, stomach was found over-distended and impacted with greyish semisolid pasty odourless mass. Microscopically, mucosa and submucosa of stomach were found severely inflamed. Diffuse hepatic necrosis, nephrosis and pulmonary haemorrhages were...

This study was done to establish at molecular level that extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) could cause pneumonia in pigs. Three piglets and a sow which were brought for necropsy examination to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, showed pneumonic lesions. The culture examina...

Present communication reports the presence of Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus in a wild boar. Small intestine showed large number of red granulomatous nodules. On histopathological examination typical granuloma reaching up to the serosa with the cross-section of the parasite in the centre was observed with adjacent intact intestine showing acute i...

Kerala has forest areas of 11,125 sq.km., which covers almost 29 percent of the total land area of the state and are home to many rare and magnificent wild lives. Even though studies were undertaken in domestic animals, there is a dearth of knowledge about the myiasis in wild animals of Kerala. A total of 65 wild animals belonging to 16 different s...

The disease condition attributed to have been caused by Theileria orientalis is generally benign. However, it is also thought that the parasite, at least some strains of it, can cause fatal disease. The present communication deals with the clinical signs, postmortem lesions and diagnosis of a fatal disease due to T. orientalis which caused mortalit...