A total of 215 sheep and 87 goats were carefully searched for ixodid ticks from January to December 2015 at different regions of the middle and south of Iraq. The detached ticks count 1533 ticks from sheep with intensity of 8.4 and count 332 ticks from goats with intensity of 6.8. Tick species recovered from sheep and their incidence rates were: Rhipicephalus turanicus (39%), Hyalomma anatolicum (28%), R. (Boophilus) annulatus (11%), Hyalomma sp. (9%), H. turanicum (6%), H. excavatum (6%) and R. leporis (1%) while the tick species recovered from goats and their incidence rates were: R. turanicus (64%), H. anatolicum (24%)

Oil exploration and extraction operations have contributed significantly to hydrocarbon contamination in surface water in Iraq. Molecules which acquire an adaptive properties through the genomic and metabolic changes of indigenous bacteria able to live in hydrocarbon polluted areas of the world are investigated. Water samples were gathered from twelve distinct polluted locations. GC-MS was used to determine the amount of hydrocarbons in the water. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) was measured to determine the level of pollution. Citrobacter freundii and Bacillus cereus were isolated and identified using 16S rRNA sequencing and VITEK 2. Bioinformatics analysis and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) were used to identify genetic mutations in hy

Objective: To determine the prevalence of bullying among primary schools’ children with some associated factors, and resultant effects. Methodology: This cross-sectional study with analytic elements was carried out from February through April 2022. It included a sample of 410 students from six governmental primary schools from both sides of Baghdad city. A self-constructed questionnaire was used. It comprised the following parts: Part (1): socio-demographic data, Part (2): questions that review the students’ exposure to bullying, and Part (3) entails the effects of bullying on those children. Results: The total sample was composed of 410 students; their mean age was 9.51±1.94 years. The prevalence of bullying was 56.34%. Studen

      A total of 1346 hard ticks (863♂ and 483 ♀) infested 104 camels, 60 alive camels with 93.33%  infestation rate and 44 carcasses of camels had 79.54% infestation rate The total infestation rate was 87.5 %. The current study results revealed ten species of hard ticks family Ixodidae Koch, 1844 related to genus Hyalomma as following: H. dromedarii Koch, 1844, H. schulzii Morel, 1969, H. turanicum Pomerantsev, 1946, H.  excavatum Koch, 1844, H. truncatum Koch, 1844, H. scupense Schulzii, 1919, H. marginatum Koch, 1844, H. anatolicum Koch, 1844, H. rufipes Koch, 1844, H. impeltatum Schulze & Schlottke, 1930 from camel Camelus dromedarius Linnaeus, 1758 collected from 21 regions belonging to six provinces in middle, w

Salmonellosis in poultry is one of the most significant bacterial infections causing mortality, reduced production, and serious economic losses. This study aimed to study the molecular diversity among Salmonella isolates and investigate the epidemiological spread of these bacteria in broiler and layer chicken flocks in five different farms in Karbala, Iraq, using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In total, 217 cloac a swabs were collected from the farms, out of which 129 and 88 swabs were taken from broiler and layer chickens. The samples were screened by PCR for S. enterica subsp. enterica using primers specific for the invA gene. Afterward, RAPD-PCR with uniplex or multiplex octamer primers was appli

This study was initiated to examine the tomato-infecting viruses belonging to the Tobamovirus and Potexvirus genera in Iraq. Field observations and surveys were carried out for three successive cropping seasons (2020/21 to 2022/23) in selected tomato production areas. The purpose was to identify the main viruses associated with tomato epidemics and assess the impact of different tomato cultivars on disease occurrence. A total of 700 tomato leaf samples were collected from seven governorates (Baghdad, Diyala, Babylon, Najaf, Kerbala, Nasiriya, and Basrah) and tested using pathogen-specific immunostrip kits. The survey showed a presence of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Pepper mild mottle virus (

This study aims to use claystone beds exposed in the Injana Formation (Late Miocene) at Karbala-Najaf plateau, middle of Iraq for the manufacturing of perforated and ordinary bricks. The claystone samples were assessed as an alternative material of the recent sediments, which are preferred to remain as agricultural land. The claystones are sandy mud composing of 29.1 - 39.1% clay, 37.2 - 54.8% silt and 14.1-26.8% sand. They consist of kaolinite, illite, chlorite, palygorskite, and montmorillonite with a lot of quartz, calcite, dolomite, gypsum and feldspar. Claystone samples were characterized by linear shrinkage 0.01 - 0.1%, volume shrinkage 0.1 - 0.9%, bulk density 1.2 - 2.11gm/cm3 (1.68 g / cm3 average), and the efflorescence is