Pneumonia in Dromedary Camels (Camelus dromedarius): A Review of Clinico-Pathological and Etiological Characteristics

Abstract

The aim of this review article was to summarise relevant clinical, etio-epidemiological and pathological data available in the current literature regarding pneumonia in dromedary camels. Scientific resources such as Pubmed, Google scholar and Researchgate were searched for all published articles regarding bacterial and viral pneumonia in dromedary camels. The most common bacterial species isolated from lesions of pneumonic camels were Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium pyogenes, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Arcanobacterium pyogenes, Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida. The most common viral causes of pneumonia were parainfluenza 3 (PI-3), adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), bovine herpes virus-1 or infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) and pestivirus or bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVD). Clinically, pneumonic camels were reported to suffer from fever, depression, nasal and ocular discharges and coughing. Affected animals were also reported to have anaemia, leukocytosis and increased levels of serum total protein, globulin, urea, creatinine, potassium and activities of hepatic enzymes. Pathological lesions in acute pneumonia were characterised by fibrinous bronchopneumonia, oedema and congestion while lesions in chronic pneumonia were characterised by fibrosis, proliferative bronchopneumonia, pleuropneumonia and abscessation. Ciprofloxacin, cephaloridine, penicillin, ampicillin, gentamicin and tetracycline were reported as the most effective antibacterial agents against most bacterial isolates.