Abstract
A cross sectional study was conducted on 420 apparently healthy camels slaughtered at Akaki abattoir from October 2011 to March 2012 to determine the apparent prevalence of camel tuberculosis and to see its association with sex, age, origin and body condition of camels. Camels were examined for the presence of gross tuberculosis lesions and further cultured to isolate members of the genus Mycobacterium. The overall apparent prevalence of camel tuberculosis was 4.52% (95% confidence interval: 2.53, 6.51) based on gross tuberculosis lesion detection; 4 of them were culture positive for Mycobacterium bovis. The apparent prevalence of camel tuberculosis was not influenced by sex, age, origin and body condition (p>0.05). In relation to distribution of the tuberculosis lesions in body organs, 57.14% of the tuberculosis lesions were localized in the lungs and associated lymph nodes, 28.57% in the retropharyngeal lymph nodes and 14.29% in the mesenteric lymph nodes. In conclusion, this study revealed that the occurrence of tuberculosis in camels at Akaki abattoir is a common phenomenon, hence at present a public health threat. As a result, public awareness and appropriate control and prevention measures should be implemented to reduce the public health and economic burden of the disease in the country. Key words: Akaki abattoir, culture, dromedary camel, Mycobacterium bovis, apparent prevalence, tuberculosis lesion
Highlights
The dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), which is a versatile animal capable of living in harsh semi-arid and arid areas of the world, is an extremely important animal in the livelihoods of pastoral communities through provision of milk, meat and draft power for transportation of goods
A cross sectional study was conducted on 420 apparently healthy camels slaughtered at Akaki abattoir from October 2011 to March 2012 to determine the apparent prevalence of camel tuberculosis and to see its association with sex, age, origin and body condition of camels
The overall apparent prevalence of TB in camels slaughtered at Akaki abattoir during the study period was 4.52% (95% confidence interval: 2.53, 6.51) based on gross tuberculosis lesion detection
Summary
The dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), which is a versatile animal capable of living in harsh semi-arid and arid areas of the world, is an extremely important animal in the livelihoods of pastoral communities through provision of milk, meat and draft power for transportation of goods. In pastoral communities of Ethiopia such as Afar, Somali and Borena, camels are kept almost entirely for milk production (Getahun and Belay, 2002). Camels have become one of the national export animals for Ethiopians. Despite its role in the livelihoods of pastoral communities and national economy, little attention has so far been given to camel production in general and health care in particular. Tuberculosis occurs worldwide in people, wild and domesticated or captive animals (Krauss et al, 2003). Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis and atypical Mycobacteria (Mycobacterium kansasii, Mycobacterium aquae, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium smegmatis) have been isolated in camels as causative agents of camel TB (Kinne et al, 2006)
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