Fatal Cowdriosis (Heartwater) and Trichurosis in a Camel Bull (Camelus dromedarius): a case report

Abstract

Key words:Camel, Heartwater, Trichurosis, whipworms, Ehrlichia ruminantium, Nigeria A 5 year old male camel was reported dead in an institutional farm, and a routine postmortem was conducted on it. Adult worms were found in the lumen of the large intestines and segments of all intestines were sent to the parasitology laboratory for helminth identification. Rectal contents were also sent to the laboratory for oocyst screening. Lung and brain samples were also sent to the parasitology laboratory based on history. The result from the parasitology laboratory confirmed a helminth infection known as trichurosis and heartwater infection was also confirmed from presence of purple colonies of Ehrlichia ruminantium on the endothelium of capillaries close to the nuclei. Although it was hard to establish which of the infections caused the death of the animal but it is noteworthy that this case confirms natural susceptibility of the camel to both diseases and is capable of causing mortality in camels.