An outbreak of abscesses disease in a sheep flock at ismailia governorate egypt

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Dept. of Infectious Diseases-Animal Med., Fac. of Vet. Med., Suez Canal University

2 Dept. of Surgery, Fac. of Vet. Med., Suez Canal University

Abstract

An outbreak of abscess disease occurred in a 750 native sheep flock located in Ismailia governorate (Egypt). 120 out of the 200 animals (60%) of the young sheep (6-10 months old) were affected by the disease. No abscesses were detected in the adult sheep. Clinically
diseased cases were first detected three weeks after shearing. Abscesses were mostly located in the head, neck and shoulder regions close to the regional lymph nodes. Staphylococcus aureus subsp < /em>. anaerobius was isolated in a pure form from animals infected with subcutaneously located abscesses containing viscous white-yellow odorless pus. The biochemical characters were studied. Susceptibility testing was performed by the agar-disk diffusion method according to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). The isolates were resistant to penicillin and erythromycin and sensitive to. ampicillin, amoxicillin, cloxacillin, gentamicin, streptomycine and oxytetracyclin. Surgical therapy remedy and intramuscularly pen-strep® antibiotic injection (Procaine penicillin G 200,000 Iu. + Dihydro streptomycin Sulphate 200mg) was started once daily and continued for four days. The affected sheep responded well to the treatment, with complete resolution of the abscess. A firm control program was applied especially during shearing cause it was highly probable that the animals in the present outbreak became infected about shearing time. Therefore, shearing was the risk factor most probably associated with the outbreak.

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