Clostridium chauvoei infections: Occurrence of blackleg disease in cattle population in district Shaheed Benazirabad

Abstract

Blackleg is an economically important disease of cattle. There was several outbreak of the disease reported in the country. Clinically blackleg has been identified but there is need to laboratory conformation of Clostridium chauvoei in the cattle. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the occurrence of Clostridium chauvoei in suspected cattle in district Shaheed Benazirabad. One hundred (n= 100) blood samples were collected from cattle suspected for blackleg disease in different talukas of (Daur, Nawabshah, Qazi Ahmed and Sakrand the district Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh. Identification and characterization of the isolates was performed using colony, morphological and biochemical characteristics. Among 100 tested blood samples, Clostridium chauvoei was detected in 32% (32) while 68% (68) samples were found negative. The highest occurrence of Clostridium chauvoei was observed in the blood samples of cattle obtained from taluka Qazi Ahmed (52%) was followed by Sakrand (40%), Daur (24%) and Nawabshah (12%). Overall, there was evidence of Clostridium chauvoei infections in dairy cattle in different regions of district Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh.