A BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDY OF SHEEP LIVER ABSCESSES

Authors

1 Animal Health Research Institute., Dokki, Giza

2 Fac. of Vet. Med. Beni-Suef Branch., Cairo University

Abstract

It has long been recognized that the condemnation of large numbers of sheep livers, due to the presence of hepatic abscesses, constitute a considerable economic problem (Butozan et al., 1961 and Berg and Scanlan, 1982). The Literature contains little references to the bacteriologic findings in sheep liver abscesses. Rumenitis and hepatic abscesses in sheep constitute a disease complex in which the ruminal lesions are the primary foci of infection and hepatic abscesses are the secondary foci of infection (Thomson et al 1968; Kanoe et al., 1978 and Gacia et al., 1986). The disease is usually found in healthy apparent sheep at slaughter. The liver is usually enlarged and contains a greater or lesser number of walnut to small egg sized abscesses deeply in the liver tissues and prominences on the surface. The abscesses are surrounded by thick capsules and mostly contain thick greyish white pus (Kujumgiev, 1955; Katitch et al., 1969 and Benno et al., 1983). The primary etiology agent of sheep hepatic abscesses is considered to be Fusobacterium necrophorum in pure culture or in combination with other aerobic or anaerobic organisms in an incidence varied from 67% up to 90% (Simon and Stovell, 1971; Kanoe et al., 1978 and Garcia et al., 1986). The significance of some clostridial organisms in the livers of sheep at post-mortem is undertaken to investigate by some authors and many of the sheep had liver fluke infection (Butozan et al., 1961; Thomson et al, 1968, and Scanlan and Berg, 1983). Isolation of anaerobic bacteria other than F. necrophorum from sheep hepatic abscesses have occurred rarely (Moore et al., 1969 and Kanoe et al., 1978). Some investigators also have reported that other aerobic and facultative anaerobic organisms often are present in sheep hepatic abscesses including staphylococcus spp, Streptococcus spp., Pseudomonas, Corynebacterium spp, and members of family Enterobacteriaceae (Kanoe et al., 1976; Szazados and Tokaco,1978 and Berg and Scanlan, 1982). The objectives of this study were to determine the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria causing sheep liver abscesses and to characterize selected predominant isolation by antibiotic susceptibility tests and pathogenicity for laboratory animals.

Main Subjects

Veterinary Medical Journal (Giza)
Volume 39, Issue 1
January 1991
Pages 91-103

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