This research investigates the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that affect the flavor and quality of Arbor acres chicken, focusing on the pectoralis muscle and hip cuts. Using gas chromatography–olfactometry–mass spectrometry (GC-O-MS) for qualitative analysis, this study compared the volatile profiles of cooked and raw chicken samples. Preparation techniques included static headspace (SHS) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), with HS-SPME proving particularly effective in isolating key compounds that influence meat flavor.

The results showed that cooked chicken had higher concentrations of potentially harmful substances compared to raw samples, indicating that cooking alters meat composition. HS-SPME identified over ten VOCs associated with flavor quality and spoilage, including aldehydes like hexanal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal, and decanal. These aldehydes, known for their rancid or grassy odors, were identified through mass spectral matching, retention index (RI) values (770-890), and real-time sniffing evaluations by trained analysts.

The increased aldehyde levels in cooked chicken highlight how cooking processes can elevate both beneficial and undesirable VOCs, affecting flavor and freshness. While aldehydes are typically linked to lipid oxidation, their higher concentration in cooked samples suggests a need for optimized cooking and storage methods to preserve desired flavors and minimize off-flavors.

This study provides valuable insights into the VOC profiles of chicken meat and demonstrates the effectiveness of SHS and HS-SPME techniques in food quality analysis. The findings contribute to advancing flavor analysis and improving the sensory quality of poultry products. These insights have broad implications for future research on VOCs in meat, the development of processing standards, and quality control strategies aimed at enhancing consumer satisfaction with poultry products.

The well-being of pet dogs is a top priority for their owners, and food plays a crucial role in ensuring their contentment. In the pet food industry, the primary goal is to develop appealing food products for dogs, with factors such as appearance, taste, smell, and texture all playing significant roles. Among these, the scent of the food is particularly important and can influence a dog's eating habits. To enhance the appeal of dog food and preserve its aroma during storage, manufacturers often incorporate palatability enhancers.

The objective of this study was to characterize the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in commercial dog pellet food products that may influence canine appetite, using headspace-solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). The VOCs in dog food were primarily composed of aldehydes, particularly hexanal. Additionally, 2-pentylfuran and 2,6-dimethylpyrazine were identified in both dried chicken and dog pellet food. These compounds are likely products of the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids or the Maillard reaction during processing, especially with protein sources like chicken meal. Furthermore, dog pellet food contained butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), an antioxidant additive that helps inhibit these oxidative reactions.

Therefore, compounds such as hexanal, heptanal, octanal, 2-pentylfuran, and 2,6-dimethylpyrazine could serve as potential markers for identifying chicken ingredients in dog food and may be linked to sensory properties that influence palatability.

In conclusion, this research explores various aspects of sustainability in relation to animal-derived products, including animal welfare, production efficiency, and technological innovations that affect health and nutritional factors.

Staphylococcus aureus, a well known human pathogen, is increasingly recognized as a significant cause of infections in various animal species, including rabbits. Its growing prevalence and the development of resistance to multiple antibiotics, resulting from their excessive and incorrect use, represents a significant threat to public health. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to assess the presence of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in rabbits with infections and to determine their antimicrobial resistance, shedding light on potential public health implications.

In this study, 79 samples were collected from rabbits with infections from different farms in northern Portugal. Eight MRSA strains were randomly selected and then tested against 14 antimicrobial agents, including penicillin, cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, macrolides, tetracyclines, oxazolidinones, and other miscellaneous agents. Susceptibility testing was carried out using the agar disc diffusion method, as recommended by the EUCAST and CLSI guidelines.

Of the 79 samples, 35 were from pododermatitis, of which 31.43% corresponded with MRSA and 17.14% with MSSA. Of the 33 samples from mastitis, 45.45% were MRSA and 15.15% were MSSA. The abscess samples (eight) had 25% MRSA and 12.5% MSSA. None of the metritis samples (three) tested positive for MRSA or MSSA. Of the strains selected, 37.5% were resistant to penicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, tobramycin, erythromycin, and clindamycin. Only 12.5% showed resistance to kanamycin, tetracycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. None of the strains studied showed resistance to cefoxitin, linezolid, chloramphenicol, fusidic acid, or mupirocin.

These results highlight the need to monitor and control S. aureus in rabbits for both animal welfare and public health, given the antibiotic resistance challenges. Some strategies are therefore needed to alleviate these problems, from the appropriate and conscientious use of antimicrobials, reinforcement of infection control measures, and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance. Future studies should investigate the potential routes of transmission between rabbits, humans, and the environment to better inform control measures

Background: Newcastle disease is a highly virulent emerging disease affecting the poultry population irrespective of age, sex, breed and other characteristics. It is a highly mutating virus that is globally widespread and comes under the category of transboundary diseases. Despite strict vaccination practices even in remote areas, this virus causes high mortality (90-100%), leading to huge economic losses in the poultry industry.

Methods: This study focusses on the discovery of the novel vaccine resistant mutants for the elimination of the virulence of the disease among the flocks in Mizoram, which is in the NER, India. Prevalent outbreaks were reported in the Selesih, Zemabawk, Melthum districts of Mizoram from October to December 2021. Clinical signs of Newcastle disease were manifested, and the carcasses were brought to the department. They were eviscerated for clinico-pathological examinations. Representative tissue samples were collected for molecular detection using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction targeting the whole length of Fusion gene (1662 base pairs). Homogenized isolates of the positive samples were sequenced and analyzed phylogenetically.

Results: The results showed that the isolates belonged to the novel genotype XXII of Newcastle disease virus as per the updated nomenclature system of classification. The XXII genotype was subdivided into sub-genotype XXII.1 and sub-genotype XXII.2.

Conclusions: The rapid isolation and identification of the disease was of great importance in the present study due to the emerging nature of the virus.

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease transmitted to animals/humans by sandflies. Temperature, rainfall and humidity can affect sandflies in a variety of ways, with air temperature being the most important factor affecting the metabolism, development, survival and capacity of these vectors. Climate change facilitates the geographical distribution of leishmaniasis vectors, including in Europe (Germany and Belgium). Regions with high climatic suitability will be at risk of the increased occurrence of leishmaniasis, especially if this is combined with high social vulnerability. Collaboration between medical/health practitioners, veterinarians, public health/epidemiology experts and the general public is key to the effective control of Leishmania parasites, with education being a critical aspect to avoid vector exposure. We are developing virtual resources to strengthen the detection/prevention of this disease, available on the e-Parasitology^© website (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/). A virtual clinical case of a pet dog co-infected with Leishmania and Toxocara was tested in final-year veterinary students during their clinical rotation. A total of 68.2% (n=26/160; 2020/21; Complutense University of Madrid, Spain) stated that they had learned to diagnose infections in small animals (4.5% disagreed), and 63.7% stated that they had learned strategies for preventing and treating leishmaniasis in dogs. These resources were introduced into the BSc Environmental Sciences programme at the University of Alcalá (UAH, second-year module of "Environmental Toxicology", 2023/24) to reinforce learning about the impact of climate change on the emergence of zoonotic diseases, including the increase in and spread of sandfly populations due to warming. In a second practical seminar, these UAH students were asked to work in mini-groups to develop a research project/proposal to address a current environmental risk of their choice in six different two-hour sessions. Although preliminary, these resources could be effective in facilitating students to acquire the appropriate skills to detect and prevent infections of important parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis, despite their background in parasitology.

Following the detection of microsporidia in animal faeces collected from different farms in Bombali District, Sierra Leone (SL), in April 2019, we began implementing a multi-stage project to build medical parasitology capacity at the University of Makeni (UniMak, SL) to address potential future risks from these opportunistic parasites. UniMak academics introduced novel practicals for the detection of microsporidia in different BSc Public Health modules in 2020/21 and followed a blended approach using the e-Parasitology package (http://parasitology.dmu.ac.uk/). Students processed thirty-six fresh stool samples from pigs provided by the SL Department of Agriculture and Food Security from a nearby farm (Makeni) in 2021. Students prepared smears in a class II biosafety cabinet and learned to perform trichrome staining for spore detection. Further fresh faecal samples were collected from four pigs in summer 2022 to investigate temporal variation.

The students showed a high level of confidence as soon as they entered the laboratory. They were able to carry out all the different practical steps quickly. A high level of accuracy was observed in the students' detection of spores present in 14/36 (38.8%) of the stool smears monitored, which would be consistent with the prevalence of microsporidia previously detected by our group (7/12; 58%) using SYBR Green real-time PCR on 12 pig stool samples collected in 2019. One of the samples collected in 2022 was positive for spores of the genus Encephalitozoon. In addition, structures compatible with Encephalitozoon spp. were observed in another pig. These results are similar to those observed in 2019, suggesting a moderate circulation of Encephalitozoon spp. in the monitored farms, highlighting a potential risk to the Sierra Leonean population. The different phases and strategies used seem to have been successful in building capacity to prepare future UniMak professionals to manage microsporidian infections in Sierra Leone.

The potential zoonotic transmission route of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon spp. (E. intestinalis, E. hellem and E. cuniculi) is under discussion. Following the detection of human-related microsporidia in dog faecal samples collected in Leicester city centre (UK) in January 2016, we monitored the presence of human-related microsporidia in 628 fresh pigeon faecal samples collected in urban and suburban areas of Leicester between summer 2017 and summer 2018, as this invasive species closely interacts with humans, especially with susceptible individuals such as children or the elderly. The presence of microsporidian spores was assessed using Weber's chromotrope stain. Microsporidian species were detected in all samples by SYBR Green real-time PCR with melting curve analysis after DNA extraction by spore disruption using Fast-Prep for soil^® following previous methodologies. Spores were observed in 104 samples, with 81 testing positive by molecular methods. Specifically, E. bieneusi was detected in 13 samples, while 26, 17 and 9 samples tested positive for E. intestinalis, E. hellem and E. cuniculi, respectively. Moreover, 16 samples were positive for E. hellem/intestinalis. Despite being the species with clearer zoonotic implications, the lower presence of E. cuniculi in the pigeons could be logical, as this species has not been found in similar studies, e.g., in pigeons monitored in public parks in Madrid, Spain. Although our results suggest a moderate presence of these microsporidian species in pigeons in Leicester, the prevalence is slightly lower than that reported in the literature. However, the prevalence found may represent a potential risk to residents and visitors to the city of Leicester and its surrounding areas, particularly when they flap their wings, as this movement may facilitate the resuspension of their faeces with debris and other topsoil materials. Further studies monitoring these parasites in the intestines of pigeons are needed to properly characterise the risks identified.

The application of deep learning techniques has become a current research hot topic in livestock farming. The facial detection of cattle enables the identification of cattle and the study of facial data (eye monitoring) to further determine the health status of the cattle. At present, the detection of cattle faces remains a challenge due to the diversity of cattle farm environments. In this study, we gathered indoor and outdoor facial data of cattle in different postures, including standing, lying, eating, and walking, and constructed a dataset consisting of 1200 cattle faces. Building on this, this paper proposes a cattle face detection model based on YOLOv11. In order to improve the model's ability to detect multi-scale information, this paper introduces the CBAM attention mechanism model. In addition, we add the GFPN network to the neck network for the detection of small target information. To further improve the generalisation ability of the model in diverse scenarios, we use ATFL to replace the traditional cross-entropy loss function in YOLOv11. The model proposed in this paper effectively detects cattle faces in various postures, both indoors and outdoors. This advancement will serve as a foundational resource for individual cattle identification, disease monitoring, and the autonomous management of cattle farms within the context of smart farming.

Introduction: Biogeoaccumulation of hazardous elements are an issue of concern for researchers. The geological deposition of hazardous heavy metals has a substantial impact on the ecosystem health, animal health and public health. Different metal bioaccumulation leads to different metal-induced effects on animals. This poses a long-term health risk to the general public. In the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the West Bengal area, prawns are a highly abundant species with high nutritional value. The majority of the prawns that are typically transported to urban areas for sale come from these rural regions. Thus, we are interested in determining the heavy metal contamination profiles in edible prawns like Macrobrachium lamarrei.

Methodology: Prawns (Macrobrachium lamarrei) of average size were selected from their natural habitat (freshwater ponds) and were analysed via trace metal analysis in their edible tissue (muscle). The Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technique was used to determine the content of heavy metals in prawn samples from a rural region in West Bengal, India.

Result: Heavy metal contamination of non-industrial rural soils and pond sediments is alarming. In terms of the bioaccumulation of trace metals, prawns (Macrobrachium lamarrei) have been estimated to accumulate notable concentrations of zinc (Zn), followed by copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn). With respect to the most hazardous heavy metals (or metalloids), the prawns were assessed and showed that the accumulation levels of arsenic (As) are the highest, followed by cadmium (Cd). However, there were no traces of lead contamination in the prawns.

Conclusion: This study aimed to determine aquatic invertebrate health (animal health) using freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium lamarrei) as a representative of edible aquatic organisms. This is a study on the food safety aspects of Macrobrachium lamarrei, which is appreciated as a food item in different countries of the continent of Asia.

Introduction:

Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) is a recent concern for researchers working on anthropogenic impacts on the wildlife ecosystem, health, and biodiversity. The concern associated with ALAN in an aquatic ecosystem is that it disrupts the natural dark–light cycle (DLC), which is essential for invertebrate health and maintaining ecological balance. In this study, we attempted to understand those adverse consequences by analysing grooming behaviour, a well-established indicator of neurological stress in animals.

Methodology:

A population of freshwater prawn species (Macrobrachium lamarrei), a highly abundant species in the Asian subcontinent, was considered the model organism for our study. The prawns were exposed to artificial light from the sunset to the morning time (except the natural light exposure during the day time). The collective grooming (CG) pattern in the experimental population was calculated in a real-time kinetic manner. The data were analysed by comparing controlled and ALAN-treated prawns, using their CG percentages.

Results:

The results indicated that being exposed to extended artificial light induces a significant increase in the CG activity in the prawns in comparison to the population with a normal DLC. From the 12th to the 72nd hour, there was an exponential elevation in CG that was higher than in the controlled environment. This was followed by a fluctuating and inconsistent increase until the 5th day. On the 6^th and 7^th days, the CG pattern remained consistent and was still higher than that in the controlled environment.

Conclusion:

This study intends to highlight the physiological health hazards associated with light pollution in a prawn population, emphasizing the stability and biodiversity of the aquatic ecosystem. Precisely, we target the freshwater arthropods which represent the aquatic invertebrates for the assessments of anthropogenic effects on aquatic ecosystems. We want to demonstrate how prolonged artificial light exposure can affect the brain behaviour circuit of Macrobrachium lamarrei.