Epidemiological, Bacteriological and Histopathological Investigations of Mastitis in Camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Tumbool Abattoir, Sudan

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tumbool abattoir for one year2009 to 2010 to estimate the prevalence of camel mastitis and its associated potential risk factors. In addition to, isolation and identification of bacterial species that may associated with mastitis and the histopathological picture of the udder tissues were also assessed. Conventional bacteriological methods, Api kits and the automated system Vitek 2 Compact were conducted to identify the bacterial isolates. Out of eight hundred culled she-camels examined, 660 (82.5%) were adult and 140 (17.5%) were immature. The overall prevalence of the clinically manifestation mastitis in adult she-camel was found to be 196(29.7%). Microscopic examination of 150 sections of udder tissues showed three types of mastitis; acute 33(22%), chronic 72(48%) and 45(30%) were neoplastic masses. Seventy five out of 165 (45.5%) samples showed growth of bacterial colonies after 24 hours incubation at 37ºC, with 114 bacterial isolates. The highest frequent isolates were Staphylococcus spp. 40(35.08%), Streptococcus spp 29(25.43%) and Micrococcus spp 24 (21.05), and the least isolated bacteria were 1(0.87%) bacillus cereus, 1(0.87%) Mannheimia haemolytica and 1(0.87%) Klebsiella pnemoniae. Using Pearson Chi-square or Fisher Exact test, risk factor such as age, pregnancy, breed (eco-type), location, tick infestation, anti-suckling device used and bacteria isolated did not show any significant association with the mastitis or the neoplastic masses. The factor found significantly associated with chronic mastitis was udder texture with (p=0.004).The likelihood of getting hard udder in the chronic mastitis (chi-square = 8.423, p = 0.004) has 3.61 times more likely than the soft udder. In conclusion, mastitis in camel is prevalent in the country and can be caused by different pathogic bacteria. Despite the insignificant association between the examined risk factors and the neoplastic masses revealed by this study. Further research should be tackled in order to determine the role of the neoplastic masses in the disease prevalence for better epidemiological consideration.