ABSTRACT
Surveillance of animal rabies is severely constrained in resource poor developing countries. The traditional reference method of brain testing has several limitations. Hence there is need for alternative method which is rapid, simple, sensitive and specific on a less invasive sample to scale up rabies surveillance. The present study evaluated the efficacy of Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) on skin specimen for post mortem screening of rabies in dogs. Skin sample and brain tissue of 56 dogs including two wild dogs which came for routine rabies surveillance were collected at necropsy. LFA on skin, LFA on brain and Fluorescent Antibody Test (FAT) on brain were conducted. The diagnostic efficacy of LFA on skin was compared against FAT on brain, the reference method for rabies diagnosis. Correlation between LFA on skin and LFA on brain was also evaluated. The study found that LFA on skin has equal efficiency as that of LFA on brain for post mortem detection of rabies in dogs. It revealed a sensitivity of 96.6% and specificity of 100% against the traditional reference method of brain testing by FAT. Based on the results, LFA on skin looks promising as a practical field tool to improve reporting and strengthen surveillance. The findings warrant further evaluation on a large sample set under different field conditions.

ABSTRACT
This study was conducted in two locations, Kazgail and Um arada, Sheikan locality, North Kordofan State, Sudan. Objective of the study to evaluate the effects of production system on milk production and quality and calf performance. Thirty (30) dairy cattle were employed in this experiment. Cows were weighed and divided into two groups each with Fifteen (15 cow) in complete randomized design. Group A was located in Kazgail village and considered as close production system and group B in Um arada village as open production system. Data were analyzed by using T test for analysis of variance procedures and least significant difference (LSD) for mean separation. The results revealed that production system significantly (p<0.001) affected milk production, where group A had maintained higher milk yield compared with group B. the respectively milk yield were 153.60 and 65.57 Lb for Group A and B respectively. Results showed significant differences (p<0.05) between systems for the milk quality during first and second month of lactation period on fat content (4.67 vs 4.87% ) for A and B groups respectively and lactose content (4.61 vs 4.77%) for A and B groups respectively. Results revealed that calves birth weight significantly (p<0.05) affected by production system. The mean birth weights were (35.58 vs 31.98 kg) for A and B groups respectively. The study demonstrated that production system had no significant effect on weaning weight. Results showed that production system significantly (p<0.05) affect daily body weight gain. In conclusion, dairy cattle in different production system; showed variable milk production during lactation period and variation in milk composition during three month.