Tigani-Asil ETAE, Abdelwahab GED, Abdu EHAM, Terab AMA, Khalil NAH, Marri ZJMA, Yuosf MF, Shah AAM, Khalafalla AI, Ishag HZA. Pathological, microscopic, and molecular diagnosis of paratuberculosis/John's disease in naturally infected dromedary camel (
Camelus dromedarius).
Vet World 2023;
16:1277-1283. [PMID:
37577185 PMCID:
PMC10421554 DOI:
10.14202/vetworld.2023.1277-1283]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and Aim
Paratuberculosis (PTB) or John's disease is a chronic disease of ruminants impeding the reproduction and productivity of the livestock sector worldwide. Since there is a lack of pathological studies explaining the nature and development of the disease in camels, this study aimed to highlight the anatomopathological changes of PTB in camels, which may help in verifying and validating some diagnostic tests used to detect the etiology of the disease in camel tissues.
Materials and Methods
In August 2017, at Alselaa border's Veterinary Clinic of Al Dhafra Region, Western Abu Dhabi, UAE, one imported culled she-camel of 2 years old was subjected to clinical, microscopic, and anatomopathological investigations along with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) to confirm the infection and correlate between clinical signs and pathological lesions of the PTB in dromedary camels.
Results
Clinically, typical clinical signs compliant with the pathognomonic gross and histologic lesions of PTB were seen in naturally infected dromedary camel. As presumptive diagnosis microscopically, acid-fast coccobacillus bacterium clumps were demonstrated in direct fecal smears as well as in scraped mucosal and crushed mesenteric lymph node films, and in histopathological sections prepared from a necropsied animal and stained by Ziehl-Neelsen stain. Free and intracellular acid-fast clump phagosomes were further confirmed as Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis by q-PCR.
Conclusion
Clinical signs and pathological lesions of paratuberculosis in a dromedary camel were found to be similar to those of the other susceptible hosts.
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