Diversity of bacterial species in the nasal cavity of sheep in the highlands of Ethiopia and first report of Histophilus
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Diversity of bacterial species in the nasal cavity of sheep in the highlands of Ethiopia and first report of Histophilus somni in the country Biruk Tesfaye & Tesfaye Sisay Tessema & Genene Tefera
Accepted: 9 January 2013 / Published online: 19 January 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract A study was conducted to isolate bacterial species/pathogens from the nasal cavity of apparently healthy and pneumonic sheep. Nasal swabs were collected aseptically, transported in tryptose soya broth and incubated for 24 h. Then, each swab was streaked onto chocolate and blood agar for culture. Bacterial species were identified following standard bacteriological procedures. Accordingly, a total of 1,556 bacteria were isolated from 960 nasal swabs collected from three different highland areas of Ethiopia, namely Debre Berhan, Asella, and Gimba. In Debre Berhan, 140 Mannheimia haemolytica, 81 Histophilus somni, 57 Staphylococcus species, and 52 Bibersteinia trehalosi were isolated. While from Gimba M. haemolytica, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and H. somni were isolated at rates of 25.2, 15.9, 11.4, and 5.9 %, respectively, of the total 647 bacterial species. In Asella from 352 bacterial species isolated, 93 (26.4 %) were M. haemolytica, 48 (13.6 %) were Staphylococcus species, 26 (7.4 %) were B. trehalosi, and 17 (4.8 %) H. somni were recognized. Further identification and characterization using BIOLOG identification system Enterococcus avium and Sphingomonas sanguinis were identified at 100 % probability, while, H. somni and Actinobacillus lignerisii were suggested by the system. The study showed that a variety of bacterial species colonize the B. Tesfaye : T. Sisay Tessema (*) Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Veterinary Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia e-mail: [email protected] G. Tefera Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
nasal cavity of the Ethiopian highland sheep with variable proportion between healthy and pneumonic ones. To our knowledge, this is the first report on isolation of H. somni, an important pathogen in cattle, from the respiratory tract of a ruminant species in the country. Keywords Bacteria . Ethiopian highland . Histophilus somni . Nasal swab . Respiratory . Sheep
Introduction Ethiopia is home to about 26 million of sheep (Central Statistical Authority (CSA) 2010) contributing to 25 % of annual meat production of the country (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2004). The highlands of Ethiopia (≥1,500 m above sea level) comprise approximately 35 % of the country and contain approximately 75 % of the nation’s sheep. Although sheep represent a great resource for the country, the rate of productivity per animal is low. Diseases and poor animal management are largely responsible for this reduced productivity (Solomon et al. 2010). Depending on the level of management, annual mortality rates may range from 7 to 44 % in sheep (Njau et al. 1988; Bekele e
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