Hemorrhagic Septicemia quick treatment in Cattle & Buffalo

Hemorrhagic septicemia

Hemorrhagic septicemia is a bacterial disease mostly found in buffalo, cattle and bison (a humpbacked shaggy-haired wild ox native to North America and Europe)

·         It is a dangerous form of Pasteurellosis (soft tissue infection).

·         In short form, It is also written as HS .

 

Haemorrhagic septicemia is timebound killer disease mainly in buffalo.

·         It is an acute disease which last from mostly 3 days to 5 days . In peracute cases it only lasts from 8 to 12 hours and death occurs within this time if animal goes unattended.

CAUSATIVE AGENT

PASTEURELLA MULTOCIDA

·         It as a gram negative

·         non-motile bacteria

HS is mainly caused by strains of B2 ,E2.

Characteristics :

1.It is resistant to mild temperature.

2. it is susceptible to hospital disinfectants

3.it is present in damp soil

4. its transmission rate increases in rainy conditions.

TRANSMISSION

·         The animal gets this bacteria through direct contact with the infected animal . when it enters into the host body it mainly effects the naso-phayrnx  area .

·         It may be transmitted by the ingestion of contaminated feed or water .

MECHANISM

Infection mainly begins in tonsils and near by tissues

As a result a large amount of bacteria are produced . it results in tissue injury .

A cytokine host response is produced ,it results in release of lipopolysaccharides  which results in endotoxemi.

ENDOTOXEMIA is the condition in which the endotoxins are released from cell wall of  gram negative bacteria and results in inflammation in higher organisms

PHASES OF HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA

There are 3 phases of this infection:

Every phase shows different symptoms:

1.      FIRST PHASE : in first phase the animal suffers from fever, loss of appetite and depression

2.      SECOND PHASE : in second phase animal suffers from increased respiration rate and increased clear nasal discharge

3.       THIRD PHASE : in third phase of this infection animal suffers from acute respiratory distress and septicemia .

CLINICAL SIGNS

Clinical signs appear within 1-3 days

And animal may die within 8-24 hours after the appearance of first clinical sign. 

SYMPTOMS OF HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA

The symptoms of the disease are as follow:

1.       The animal suffers from high fever

2.       Restlessness

3.       Laziness while moving

4.       Lacrimation (shedding of tears)

5.       Hypersalivation

6.       Swelling of skin from pharyngeal region

NOTE

There is no reported case in humans . It’s not zoonotic in nature.

TREATMENT

Treatment includes antibiotics

1.       Oxytetracycline

2.       Sulfamethoxazole

3.       Sulphaquinoxaline

Some animals may develop antibiotic resistant

Treatment also includes anti-inflammatory medicines

1.Dexamethasone (steroid)

2. Mepramine maleate (anti allergic)

These medicines reduce swelling and help in easy breathing.

Note: steroids should be used with caution as they induce gluconeogenesis as a result of that temperature of body rises and may further aggravate the situation in already pyrexic animals.

PREVENTION

The preventive measures for the disease includes

1.       Sticking to vaccine schedule properly.

2.       To give vaccine before the outbreak season (monsoon).

3.       Use of disinfectants.

4.       If the animals are reported than the movement of animals should be controlled.

5.       Avoid over crowding during monsoon season.

VACCINATION

Vaccinations are available .

Vaccines are injected subcutaneously and intradermally

Vaccines contain serotype of the Pasteurella multocida.