Sergio Martín

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | ULPGC · Department of Animal Pathology, Animal Production, and Food Science and Technology

Pain assessment is essential in laboratory and farm animals. Grimace scales have been used for this purpose since 2010. The aim of the present study was to investigate how pain (due to disease presence) affects the main facial expressions of goat kids. For this purpose, 60 goat kids aged 1 to 20 days were included in the study. An experienced veter...

Goat coccidiosis compromises animal welfare, reduces productivity and may cause mortality and delayed growth rates in goat kids around the weaning period worldwide. This field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of metaphylactic treatments with two doses of toltrazuril (20 or 40 mg/kg body weight-BW, p. o.), at different timing, in kids na...

Trypanosomosis is a global animal issue, causing significant economic losses, particularly in Africa. In Spain, only one pathogenic species, Trypanosoma evansi, has been identified so far. It was first detected in a dromedary camel in the Canary Islands in 1997. Since then, numerous cases of the disease, known as Surra, have been diagnosed, prompti...

Trypanosomosis is a global animal issue, causing significant economic losses, particularly in Africa. In Spain, only one pathogenic species, Trypanosoma evansi, has been identified so far. It was first detected in a dromedary camel in the Canary Islands in 1997. Since then, numerous cases of the disease, known as surra, have been diagnosed, prompti...

This study examines the occurrence of Surra, a disease caused by Trypanosoma evansi, in camels in the Canary Islands. The 1997 detection of T. evansi in camels in the Canary Islands led to the implementation of an initial control program, resulting in a decrease in prevalence. Following an outbreak in 2014, and due to the impossibility of eradicati...

Strategies to control goat coccidiosis traditionally rely on the use of management practices combined with anticoccidial treatments, and limited effort has been made, so far, to address immunological control of caprine Eimeria infections. Previously, we showed that monospecific immunization with X-Rad-attenuated Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae oocysts in...

The use of agriculture by-products is highly demanded for livestock nutrition. However, the employment of certain non-degradable materials could potentially induce concretions and lesions in ruminants’ forestomach. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the morphological lesions showed in rumen containing indigestible foreign objects, named f...

Rumenotomy is one of the most widely used surgical techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of different rumen conditions in ruminants. It is commonly used for large ruminants, such as cattle. Although this technique is also applied to small ruminants, there is a lack of standardization. To date, it has not been fully described in the available l...

A rare case of congenital supernumerary teeth, also known as hyperdontia, observed in a healthy 8-month-old female ewe is presented. The congenital defect consisted of the presence of 2 incisor teeth embedded in the lateral areas of the dental pad. The anomaly was found during a routine physical examination and no other congenital abnormalities wer...

Although cellular immune reactions seem to be crucial for protective immune responses in Eimeria spp. infections, there are also evidences on an active involvement of the humoral counterpart. In the present study, we have analyzed the humoral response of goat kids subjected to primary and challenge infections with Eimeria ninakholyakimovae. Specifi...

The limitations associated with the use of anthelmintic drugs in the control of gastrotintestinal nematodosis, such as the emergence of anthelmintic resistance, have stimulated the study of the immunological control of many parasites. In the case of Haemonchus contortus, several vaccination trials using native and recombinant antigens have been con...

Caprine coccidiosis, affecting mainly young goat kids around the weaning period, is worldwide the most important disease in the goat industry. Control of caprine coccidiosis is increasingly hampered by resistances developed against coccidiostatic drugs leading to an enhanced need for anticoccidial vaccines. In the current study we conducted an oral...

Coccidiosis caused by the apicomplexan protozoa Eimeria ninakohlyakimovae has a high impact on animal health and profitability of the goat industry worldwide. Primary E. ninakohlyakimovae infections induce clinical disease mainly in goat kids, as homologous re-infections are commonly under immunological control. Nevertheless, there is evidence of f...

A preliminary analysis of the significance of genetic diversity in cysteine proteinase genes has been performed simultaneously in sheep and goats, with regard to the immunological control using these enzymes against haemonchosis. For this purpose, we have studied the cross-immunoprotective effect of cysteine protease-enriched protein fractions (CPF...

Coccidiosis is probably the main parasitic disease affecting goat kids around the weaning period, leading to high economic losses in goat production due to deaths and delayed growth rates of infected animals. A total of 101 kids of 2-4 weeks of age, naturally infected with Eimeria spp., were divided into five groups and studies were conducted to an...

The effect of eprinomectin on goats experimentally infected with the nematode Haemonchus contortus was investigated. Faecal analysis showed that a single dose of eprinomectin 'pour-on' delayed the onset of shedding of eggs for 10 to 17 days.

A survey of Eimeria infections was performed in dairy goats and kids (<6 months old) of six farms from a dry desert area of Gran Canaria Island (Spain). The number of oocysts per gram of faeces (OPG) was determined by a modified McMaster technique over a total of 2,616 individual faecal samples taken from the rectum in monthly intervals. Eimeria oo...

Haemonchus cysteine proteases, because of their apparent critical function in worm physiology, are considered important candidates in the immunological control of haemonchosis in sheep. Only limited information is, however, available on the immunoprotective properties of these molecules in goats. In the present study cysteine proteases of Haemonchu...