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. 2012 Jan;19(1):35-41.
doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2011.10.001. Epub 2011 Oct 18.

Viral and bacterial infections associated with camel (Camelus dromedarius) calf diarrhea in North Province, Saudi Arabia

Meshref A Al-Ruwaili  1 , Omer M Khalil, Samy A Selim
Affiliations

Viral and bacterial infections associated with camel (Camelus dromedarius) calf diarrhea in North Province, Saudi Arabia

Meshref A Al-Ruwaili et al. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2012 Jan.

Abstract

Diarrhea and deaths in new-born camel calves were noticed by veterinary investigators and pastoralist in Saudi Arabia to be very high. Hence, it is thought to be necessary to investigate this problem from the virological and bacteriological point of view. The role of pathogenic bacteria and viruses in six different towns of North Province (Al-Assafia, Arar, Domat Aljandal, Hail, Skaka and Khoa) in Saudi Arabia was studied. Survey was conducted in diarrheic camel calves aged 12 months or younger. In our study calf diarrhea was reported in 184 out of 2308 camels examined clinically during one year, the prevalence of diarrhea was found to be 8.0% in calves ranging from one month to one year. In the present study group A rotavirus and Brucella abortus were detected in 14.7% and 8.98%, respectively, using ELISA technique. Escherichia coli was isolated from diarrheic calf camel (58.2%) 99/170 samples during dry and wet season. Salmonella spp. and Enterococcus spp. were detected in 12% and 8.8% of the specimens, respectively. In this study enterotoxogenic E. coli (ET E. coli) was isolated from 7% of diarrheic camel, which indicates the strong correlation between the camel calf diarrhea and the detection of enterotoxogenic E. coli. This study represented the first report for the detection of group A rotavirus and B. abortus antigen and antibodies in calf camels in Saudi Arabia. It is recommended that the disease should be controlled by vaccination in calf camels.

Keywords: Brucellosis; Calf camel; Diarrhea; Escherichia coli; Group A rotavirus; Saudi Arabia.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of camel calf diarrhea among different studied areas.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency of group A rotavirus in diarrheic camel calves using different techniques.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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