A total of 980 camels were employed in this study for evaluation of somediagnostic procedures used for diagnosis of camel trypanosomiasis. Clinicalexamination revealed that 180 (18.37%) camels showed sings of illness including, loss of body weight, anemia, abortion, decrease of animal production and edema in some parts of the body. Parasitological examination of camel’s blood smears revealed the presence of Trypanosoma evansi in 57 (5.82%) camels. ELISA detected 99 (63.06%) positive cases while suratex test identified 80 (50.96%) positive cases. Results of mice inoculation test for detection of Trypanosoma evansi among camels showed that 69 (43.95%) camels were positive. The present study clarified that suratex test was 100% sensitive for diagnosis of trypanosomiasis followed by ELISA (98.55%).

Evaluation of the real-time PCR, rose bengal test (RBT), competitive ELISA, and complement fixation test (CFT) was done on 335 camels sera. Real-time PCR, classified 335 camel serum samples to 268 (80%) as positive and 67 (20%) as negative. Real-time PCR, using species specific primers, distinguished 94/104 serum samples due to B. abortus, 4/104 samples due to B. melitensis and 6/104 due to mixed infection. The results of serological tests revealed that modified mRBT75 using 75 µl of serum, detected the highest number of positive samples 271 (80.9%), while 262 (78.2%), 257 (76.7%), 253 (75.5%) and 245 (73.1%) samples were found to be positive for brucellosis using CFT, cELISA, mRBT50, and RBT25, respectively. Compared to other serological tests, the CFT proved to have the best results in the criteria of test validations, namely; specificity (88%), PPV (96.9%), NPV (80.8%), PLR (7.9), NLR (0.06) and DOR (133.8). The Kappa (K) statistic agreements values between real-time PCR and rose bengal (RBT25), modified (mRBT50), (mRBT75), cELISA and CFT was 0.562 (± 0.053), 0.613 (± 0.052), 0.725 (± 0.048), 0.710 (± 0.047) and 0.801 (± 0.041), respectively. The authors recommend the use of real-time PCR on camel sera to confirm the disease.

In the present study, the humoral immune response developed following vaccinationwith the live-attenuated (Smithburn) Rift Valley fever (RVF) vaccine in sheep, goats,cattle, buffaloes and camels was investigated. Results showed that, serum neutralizing antibody titers of RVF virus started to appear in the sera of all vaccinated animals with live-attenuated Rift valley fever vaccine after the first week post-vaccination and reached its peak after the third month of vaccination. It persisted to be higher than the acceptable limit of protection (>40) in the sera of sheep and goats in more than 6 months post-vaccination while it declined in the sera of cattle, buffaloes and camels to become lower than the acceptable limit of protection (<40) after the sixth month post-vaccination. On the other hand, the serum neutralizing antibody titers remained negative in the sera of non-vaccinated (control) animals throughout the study. It could be concluded that, the neutralizing antibodies following vaccination of cattle, buffaloes and camels with live attenuated RVF (Smithburn) vaccine was low and of a short duration compared with those in sheep and goats. Hence, it is important to prepare a new vaccine which is safe and gives a high immune response for long period in cattle, buffaloes and camels instead of live attenuated (Smithburn) RVF vaccine to protect these animals species against this disease.

Gastrointestinal parasites are some of the most common pathogens which are seriously harmful to the camel’s health. The infection status of gastrointestinal parasites in camels (Camelus bactrianus) in the Tianshan Mountains pastoral area in China is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the species and infection intensity of gastrointestinal tract parasites in local camels. A total of 362 fresh faecal samples were collected and examined for parasite eggs using the saturated saline floating and natural sedimentation method. The parasite eggs were subjected to morphological and molecular examination and identification, and the infection rate and mean intensity of the parasites were analysed. A total of 15 gastrointestinal tract parasite species’ eggs were identified, with a detection rate of 100%. Ostertagia spp. (100%) and Trichostrongylus spp. (98.1%) were dominant. Camels were often coinfected by 5–14 species. The average number of eggs per gram of faeces was higher for Ostertagia spp. (298), Haemonchus contortus (176) and Nematodirus spp. (138). The number of species of parasites infecting young camels was significantly lower than that of adult camels, but the infection intensity in young camels was significantly higher. Gastrointestinal parasites were highly prevalent in camels from the Tianshan Mountains pastoral area in China. This finding provides important epidemiological data for the prevention and control of associated infections in camels.

Introduction: There is still lack of morphological and phylogenetic information on the pathogenic nematode of the camel Haemonchus longistipes. In the present study, this parasite was isolated in Saudi Arabia and described. Material and Methods: The abomasa of two Arabian camels were collected from a slaughterhouse in Abha province and examined for nematode infection. Worms were described morphologically and morphometrically by electron microscopy. Multiple sequence alignment and the phylogenetic tree of the parasite were constructed from maximum likelihood analysis of its ITS-2 rDNA sequences. Results: These nematodes had a slender body terminating anteriorly at a conspicuous dorsal lancet. A pair of lateral cervical papillae distant from the anterior end was observed. The buccal aperture was hexagonal and surrounded by two amphids, six externo-labial papillae, and four cephalic papillae. Males terminated posteriorly at a bursa supported by spicules and lateral and dorsal rays. Females were linguiform and knobbed morphotypes with distinct ovijectors and a dorsal rim covering the anal pore. The taxonomy was confirmed by the morphology and number of the longitudinal cuticular ridges in a 43–46 range. The sequence alignment and phylogeny revealed 92% homology with H. longistipes (AJ577461.1), and the sequence was deposited into GenBank. Conclusion: The present study describes H. longistipes morphologically and molecularly which facilitates further discrimination of this species worldwide.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the cause of death of large number of camels during an outbreak in Saudi Arabia.Material and methods: History was taken from the camel owners and breeders. Besides, clinical and post-mortem (PM) examinations were conducted. In this study, ten locations were surveyed and all camels were examined. Wheat bran was suspected as the source of the havoc. For establishing this assumption, a feeding trial was conducted with three camels, six mice, one rabbit and four of each chickens and ducklings using the incriminated wheat bran. Samples were collected from the suspicious wheat bran and the afflected animals, and were sent to international reference laboratories for diagnosis. The clinical signs elicited by the feeding trial were compared with the signs recorded in the outbreak.Results: The body temperature of the affected camels ranged from 36.4&#9702;C to 41.9&#9702;C. The clinical signs included hyper-excitability, muscle tremors, in-coordination of the hind quarters, sternal or lateral recumbence, inability to stand, and death. PM examination revealed no remarkable pathological changes in internal organs but the rumens were full of gases, and showed hyperemia and petechial hemorrhages. Within a period of twelve days from the onset of the crisis, 2,800 of the affected camels died. The clinical signs showed by the two camels in the feeding trial were similar to those observed in field outbreak. The tentative diagnosis of toxicosis, which was made based on the clinical signs was confirmed by the reference laboratories. Salinomycin (300 to 400 mg/Kg feed), Aluminium (230 ppm), Aspergillus clavatus and A. flavus were detected in the incriminated wheat bran. Conclusion: Salinomycin causes heavy mortalities in one-humped camels in the affected areas. Owners and breeders are adviced to avoid feeding low quality feed to their camels. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2017; 4(2.000): 214-221]

Camel Trypanosomiasis, or Surra, or El Debab as better known, caused by Trypanosoma evansi constitutes an economically important disease that affects the health and production of camels. Two-hundred and ninety-five samples from camels of different ages and sexes were collected from five geographic locations in Egypt (Behera, Cairo, South Sinai, Matrouh, Halayeb and Shalateen). Giemsa-stained smears that were prepared from blood samples were examined microscopically, while PCR coupled with DNA sequencing was applied for molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis. Microscopic and molecular findings revealed a prevalence of 0.34% and 50.51% in the examined camels through stained blood smears and PCR techniques, respectively. T. evansi is enzootic in Egypt, and the PCR technique could preferably be applied in surveillance studies as a more sensitive detection method.

Helicobacter pylori is newly emerging bacteria and one of the most common infections worldwide with over one-half of the world is infected with this organism. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of H. pylori among sheep, camels, and humans in Matrouh Province, North-West Egypt using H. pylori stool antigen enzyme immunoassay and stool PCR. A total of 250 stool samples were collected from farm animals (sheep and Camels) and humans in Matrouh Province. Samples were examined using H. pylori Stool Antigen Enzyme Immunoassay test and H. pylori 16S rRNA PCR. Statistical analysis was applied using Chi2 and IBM SPSS Statistics 25. The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection in the study by HpSA and PCR were 27.6% and 24.4%, respectively. Based on the results of HpSA test, it was found that the prevalence was 12% and 26% in sheep and camels, respectively, with statistically significant association between the prevalence and locality or age of sheep. Moreover, the prevalence of H. pylori infection in human was 44% by HpSA test with statistically significant association between the prevalence and gender or locality being higher in males than females with greater rural prevalence than urban. On the other hand, there was a non-statistically significant differences between H. pylori prevalence and sex, breed, and health status of examined animals or age, residence, and occupation of enrolled individuals. Conclusively, H. pylori was detected in both animal and human samples is alarming in Matrouh Province. Therefore, there was an urgent need for implementing a proper control program.

OBJECTIVE To determine the intraocular pressure (IOP) in healthy dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). ANIMALS 24 clinically normal dromedary camels. PROCEDURES For each camel, the IOP of both eyes was measured with applanation tonometry. Three measurements with < 5% variance were obtained for each eye on the same day of the week for 3 consecutive weeks. Mean IOP was calculated for each eye on each day for comparison purposes. RESULTS Mean ± SD IOPs for the right (31.1 ± 2.1 mm Hg) and left (30.8 ± 1.9 mm Hg) eyes of immature camels were significantly higher than those for the right (27.1 ± 1.2 mm Hg) and left (28.2 ± 1.2 mm Hg) eyes of mature camels. Intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation (CVs) for IOP measurements of the right and left eyes did not differ significantly between immature and mature camels. Interassay CVs of IOP measurements for the right and left eyes ranged from 1.5% to 12.1% and 1.2% to 10.3%, respectively, for immature camels and from 1.2% to 17.2% and 1.7% to 18.8%, respectively, for mature camels. Intra-assay CVs of IOP measurements for the right and left eyes ranged from 1.5% to 10.6% and 1.9% to 9.6%, respectively, for immature camels and from 2.8% to 16.9% and 2.7% to 12.4%, respectively, for mature camels. Age was negatively correlated (r = −0.403) with IOP. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results provided a reference and might aid in the diagnosis of glaucoma and uveitis during complete ophthalmic examinations of dromedary camels.

The objective of this study was to characterize the highly elevated levels of clotting factor VIII (FVIII) in camel plasma. Whole blood was collected from healthy camels and factor VIII clotting activity (FVIII:C) assays were conducted using both the clotting and the chromogenic techniques. The anticoagulant citrate phosphate dextrose adenine (CPDA) produced the highest harvest of FVIII:C, the level of plasma factor VIII, compared to heparin:saline and heparin: CPDA anticoagulants. Camel FVIII can be concentrated 2 to 3 times in cryoprecipitate. There was a significant loss of camel FVIII when comparing levels of FVIII in camel plasma after 1 h of incubation at 37°C (533%), 40°C (364%), and 50°C (223%). Thrombin generation of camel plasma is comparable to that of human plasma. It was concluded that camel plasma contains very elevated levels of FVIII:C, approaching 8 times the levels in human plasma, and that these elevated levels could not be attributed to excessive thrombin generation. Unlike human FVIII:C, camel FVIII:C is remarkably heat stable. Taken together, these unique features of camel FVIII could be part of the physiological adaptation of hemostasis of the Arabian camel in order to survive in the hot desert environment.