THE EFFECT OF PARASITOSIS ON SOME HAEMATOLOGICAL INDICES OF CAMELUS DROMEDARIES

Received at: 26/2/2012

Accepted: 13/3/2012

A total offive hundred and sextey two (246 male and 316 female) blood and Faecal sampleswere collected from camels (Camelus dromedaries, 3-6 years) started at Fab. to Sep. 2011, from middle regions of KSA (Al-Riyadh, Snam and Ramah). A total of 445 (79.18%) camels were positive for infection with parasites (nematods and blood parasite); 284 (50.55%) infected with nematods (nematodirus and trichuris eggs), 161 (28, 64%) infected with blood parasites (Anaplasma marginale). Thin smears of blood samples showed Anaplasma marginale, in females camel (30.06%) more than males (26.83%). Packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hbc), and red blood cell counts (RBCs) were affected in the infected camels compared to the non-infected ones. Parasite infection in camels leads to macrocytic anaemia, which will negatively affect camel production and leading to death. Further studies on the prevalence of parasitosis in camel in KSA were recommended.

Introduction

Camels play an important socio-economic role in the arid and semi arid areas, where most of the resource poor farmers in Africa live (Guliye et al., 2007). The role of camels in traditional areas has been highlighted (Wilson, 1984; 1998; Mehari      et al., 2007). The camel has been considered an aid to man for thousands of years in many different respects and has a high economic value by providing meat, milk and wool as well as transportation and labor. Gastrointestinal helminthes injure their hosts by a wide variety of mechanisms, mainly reduction in voluntary food intake, loss of productivity and diarrhea. Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are one of the most important widely spread parasites of camels and other animals. Internal parasites are considered to be the most important causes of economic losses in camels. These parasites not only reduce the productivity and performance of camels but also predispose them to other infections and leads to death (Urquhart et al., 1988). They cause significant economic losses worldwide due to its feeding behavior in the host (Soulsby, 1986). The GIN parasites adversely affect the nutritional status of the animals and lower the resistance against other diseases (Irfan, 1984).

However, the clinical manifestation of helminthes infection is subclinical or asymptomatic in which animals appear normal but are performing poor (Borji et al., 2010). Few studies have been conducted on GIN and haematological indices of Camels (El Bihari, 1985; Abdul-Salam and Farah, 1988; Haroun et al., 1996; Abdul-Mogod, 2001, Bekele, 2002 and Khan et al., 2010).

Anaplasmais one of the most important parasites transmitted by many species of ticks (Marchette and Stiller, 1982),but mostly Boophilus microplus causing anaplasmosis(TFRC, 1996). When parasites infected red blood cells rupture, the parasite’s membrane also ruptures, releasing the initial bodies into the blood stream to invade other RBCs. As the infection progresses, more and more RBCs  contain  parasites  and  are  destroyed

c) Hemoglobin (Hbc) concentration:Mix the blood sample thoroughly. Fill blood into Sahli pipette at the mark 20. Clean outside the pipette nicely. Blow out the blood into a tube containing 5 ml of Drabkin’s solution wash inside the pipette thoroughly. Allow all Hb to convert to Cyanmet-Hb for 10 min. Read the percent transmittance at 540 nm using pure Drabkin’s solution as a blank. Calculate the Hb concentration from standard curve (Drabkin and Austin, 1935).

II- Thin smears were prepared from anticoagulated blood:- A small drop of fresh blood was put in the middle of one end of the slide, and spread right across the slide and then air dried. The slide was labeled using a pencil. Blood films were fixed in absolute methyl alcohol for 5 minutes, stained in 10% diluted Giemsa’s stain for 45 minutes, and washed with distilled water and then dried. Blood films were examined microscopically under oil immersion lens at x100 magnification (Nikon Microscope). The parasite identification was done with the help of keys mentioned in the book titled “Helminthes, Arthropods and Protozoa of Domestic Animals” (Soulsby, 1982 and Adam et al., 1977)

(Stewart et al., 1981). The disease is characterized by fever, severe anemia, jaundice, brownish urine, loss of appetite, dullness or depression, rapid deterioration of physical condition, muscular tremors, constipation, yellowing of mucous membrane and labored breathing (Bram, 1983). This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and effects of parasitosis on some erythrocyte indices of camels from middle regions of KSA (Al-Riyadh, Snam and Ramah).

MATERIALS and METHODS

Study provances:- The study was conducted in middle regions of KSA (Al-Riyadh, Snam and Ramah).

Animals:- Fifty handerd and sexety two adult one humped dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) were randomly sampled over a period of one year for this work 2011.

Blood sampling

I- For the haematological analysis:- Five milliliters of blood was obtained directly from the jugular vein into vacutainers containing di-sodium ethylenediamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) as an anticoagulant. The anticoagulated blood was used immediately for the determination of erythrocyte count, packed cell volume (PCV), and hemoglobin (Hbc) concentration.

a)- Erythrocyte count: The erythrocyte number (RBC) was counted in a hemocytometer. Mix the blood sample thoroughly; fill blood into red pipette at 0.5 mark. Fill reagent add up into the pipette to 101 mark. Shake the pipette on the vibrator for 1 min. Discarded the first 3-4 drops. Fill in the hemacytometer nicely, allows RBC to set down for 2-3 min. Count 5 red squares under microscope (x400). Calculate the RBC concentration. Red cell count = N x10,000(Ferrer, 1929).

b) Packed cell volume (PCV): Packed cell volume (PCV) was determined by microhaematocrit method, by centrifuging the blood in a micro-hematocrit centrifuge (APEL Co., LTD. JAPAN. MODEL HC-702) for 6 minutes at 11500 rpm. (Palomeque       et al., 1991).

Faecal sampling: Ten grams of faeces were collected from camels into an air tight container. The samples were analysed by flotation in saturated sodium chloride solution and sedimentation methods(Soulsby, 1982). Processed samples were examined microscopically; identification was done according to the keys of Soulsby.(Soulsby, 1982).

Results

Four hundred and forty five (79.18 %) out of 562 camels were infected nematodes and blood parasites; 284 (50.53%) of the camels examined were harbouring different nematodes eggs (trichuris and nematoderus, Fig. 1&2). One hundred and sixty one (28.64%) of camels was positive to infection with blood parasites (Anaplasma marginale, Fig. 3). parasitic infections (Anaplasma marginale) infemale camels were higher than male 30.06, 26.83% respectively as shown in Tab. (1). The haematological analysis was within the normal range reported in the negative camels. Packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (HbC), and red blood cell counts severely affected in camels infected by both GIN and blood parasites (Tab. 2).

No. of Animals

Negative sample

Positive samples

Total positives

Nematoda

Blood parasites

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

562

246 ♂

42

128

52.03

66

26.82

194

78.86

316 ♀

75

156

49.36

95

30.06

251

79.43

Total

    562 

117

284

50.53

161

28.64

445

79.18

Discussion

Helminthosis was considered as one of the main important problems in camels worldwide (Bekele, 2002). Out of 562 camels, 284 (50.53%) were found positive for the gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) infection. This finding is in agreement with the results of (Borji et al., 2010 and Mahfooz et al., 2006) that found nematode infection in faecal samples in Iran and Pakistan respectively, but lower than that reported in Jordan (Sharrif et al., 1997). In Ethiopian dromedaries, the country to country variation can be adequately attributed to variation between agro climatic conditions, levels of hygiene and husbandry practices (Allport     et al., 2005). Observed helminthes in this study were also reported from other regions          (El Bihari, 1985; Abdul- Salam and Farah, 1988; Sharrif et al., 1997; Bekele, 2002). The prevalence of nematods for males and females     were      52.03%     and     49.36%,

respectively. This finding is in agreement with the result of Bekele (2002). Camels can acquire helminth infection by grazing on infected pastures or by ingesting infective larvae with drinking water (Blood et al.,1979)

The blood parasites infection in femals (30.06%) was more than in males (26.82%) this result agreed with Barakat and Abdel-Fatth (1971) and Majeed et al. (1980); that reported variation in the blood constituents due to sex.

Hematological analysis of blood can often provide valuable information regarding the health and sickness of animals (Al-Busadah, 2007 and Mohammed et al., 2008). The PCV in the infected animals was lower than in non-infected animals, which is usually the case in most parasitic infection. A similar observation was reported in one humped camels  in  Sudan  (Mohammed et al., 2007).

The anemia was macrocytic, which could be attributed to large number of reticulocytes in circulation as a result of the active response from the red bone marrow. This is similar to an earlier report which showed that Anapasma marginale significantly affects the RBC indices of the camels (Mohammed       et al., 2007). Pathogenesis of  anemia  due to

parasitism could be attributed to the direct effect   of   the   parasite   on   the   infected erythrocytes, which may be  incriminated,  or

the decreased life span of RBCs and also the suppression of the haemopoitic system (Mahran, 2004). Anemia in infected camels could also be due to extensive erythrophagocytosis in the reticulo-endothelial system initiated by parasitic damage to erythrocytes. The haematological indices of negative camels in this study were within the normal range reported by Abdelgadir et al. (1984); Mehrotra and Gupta (1989).

The relatively high incidence of parasites observed in this study could be due to the favourable environmental conditions for the survival and proliferation of the arthropod vectors responsible for the transmission of the parasites. Thus, there is need for an appropriate treatment against these parasites in infected camels. This study reveals the significant parasitic infection on the erythrocyte indices of camels in KSA.

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