Seroprevalence of hemorrhagic septicemia in buffalo and cattle in flood, irrigated and sandy areas of Punjab, Pakistan

Full text

Pure Appl. Biol.
http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2018.700143
Published by Bolan Society for Pure and Applied Biology
Research Article
Seroprevalence of hemorrhagic
septicemia in buffalo and cattle in flood,
irrigated and sandy areas of Punjab,
Pakistan
Mushtaq Ahmad1,4, Mubashar Aziz2, Muhammad Tarique Tunio1,
Rashid ur Rehman3, Abdul Rehman4, Kashif ur Rehman4*, Abdul
Hameed4, Tariq Naveed2, Muhammad Tanveer4 and Muhammad Ali2
1. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad-Pakistan
2. Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan-
Pakistan
3. Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, P.R-China
4. Livestock and dairy development department, Poultry Research Institute, Rawalpindi, Punjab-Pakistan
*Corresponding author’s email: kashifrehman@webmail.hzau.edu , drkashif706@hotmail.com
Citation
Mushtaq Ahmad, Mubashar Aziz, Muhammad Tariq Tunio, Rashid ur Rehman, Abdul Rehman, Kashif ur
Rehman, Abdul Hameed, Tariq Naveed, Muhammad Tanveer and Muhammad Ali. Seroprevalence of
hemorrhagic septicemia in buffalo and cattle in flood, irrigated and sandy areas of Punjab, Pakistan. Pure and
Applied Biology. http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2018.700143
Received: 18/05/2018 Revised: 19/08/2018 Accepted: 23/08/2018 Online First: 31/08/2018
Abstract
Hemorrhagic septicemia (HS) is an acute, fatal, and septicemic disease of cattle and buffalo caused by
Pasteurella multocida. It is particularly important in the tropical regions of the world, especially in Asia
and Africa. The study was conducted to record the HS disease prevalence rate in different areas (flood,
irrigated and sandy), species of animals, and different age groups. Moreover, the antibody titer against
HS of vaccinated and nonvaccinated animals (cattle and buffalo) in different areas against HS disease.
Morbidity, mortality, and case fatality rate (CFR) due to HS disease in the different animal population
(cattle and buffalo), age groups (young and adult), various areas (flood, irrigated and sandy) and
vaccinated and unvaccinated animal groups. It can be concluded from the present investigation that HS
is endemically occurring in cattle and buffalo. The mean of morbidity, mortality and CFR in young
buffalo (12.56%, 22.44%, and 40.44%) and adult buffalo (0.94%, 2.82% and 25.68%) higher than
young cattle (2.42%, 6.46%, 28.74%) and adult cattle (0.54%, 1.97% and 17.63%), which shows that
buffalos are more susceptible of disease as compared to the cattle. Moreover, the young population of
buffalo and cattle highly affected (morbidity, mortality, and CFR) of HS as compared with the adult
stock. It was also noted that the morbidity, mortality, CFR was greater in flood area (7.78%, 13.95%,
and 39.05%), and lesser in the sandy area (0.84%, 3.76%, and 11.84%). The comparative value of GMT
against HS, deducted with IHA test both for cattle and buffalo, and it was noted that GMT in vaccine
status and category of animals showed that it was higher in vaccinated animal than nonvaccinated
animal population. Moreover, the GMT was higher in the sandy area as compared with flood and
irrigated area. Furthermore, the GMT for vaccinated buffalo was lesser as compared to the vaccinated
cattle making them more susceptible to the disease.
Keywords: Buffalo; Case fatality rate; Cattle; Hemorrhagic septicemia; Mortality
Introduction
Pakistan is an agricultural country,
livestock and dairy farming plays a major
role in the economy of Pakistan [1, 2].
Livestock is the sub-sector of agriculture
and its share in agriculture’s GDP is round

Ahmad et al.
about 58.3% and 11.4% of the total GDP of
Pakistan during the year 2016-17 compared
to 58.3% and 11.6% during the
corresponding last year respectively.
Livestock revenue increased from Rs. 1288
billion (2015-16) to Rs. 1333 billion (2016-
17). The above picture depicted that 3.4%
increase during the last year. Livestock
share in the economy of Pakistan may be
seen because there are round about 8
million families being involved in the
livestock sector, generating 35% of their
income from the livestock production [3,
4]. In Pakistan, there are vast numbers of
cattle and buffalo population (41.2 million
& 35.6 million respectively) [5]. Another
report indicated that annual beef production
in Pakistan was 1.6 million tons while milk
production was 43.6 million tons [6].
In Pakistan farmers mainly rely on their
animal’s income for their survival and it is
reflected annually in GDP of Pakistan.
Farmers are frequently facing many
problems which affect the income of the
farmers due to certain hurdles such as the
onset of infectious disease, duration of
illness of animals, nutrition costs and
vaccination costs [7]. Previously due to five
economical endemic diseases like HS,
FMD, Rinder Pest, Anthrax and Black Leg
58.7% deaths reported [8]. It was observed
during participatory disease surveillance in
Karachi that HS has higher economic losses
than FMD due to higher mortality rate [9].
The morbidity losses due to HS considered
23% of the total losses and mortality losses
contributed 77% of the total losses. The
share of calves was round about 74.8% of
the total losses due to HS disease [10]. The
prevalent serotyping of Pasteurella
multocida causing Hemorrhagic
Septicemia (HS) is listed as B disease i.e B2
(Asian Type) E2 (African Type). Other
serotypes reported are A (1), A (1, 3), A (4),
B (1), B (2, 5), B (3, 4), E (2, 5), F (3), F (3,
4) [11]. HS is mostly the disease of river
valleys and case reported mostly from the
Delta of South East Asia among the buffalo
[12, 13].
District Muzaffar Garh (M. Garh) have
cattle (1.436), buffalo (0.647), sheep
(0.441), goat (0.994) Million respectively
[14]. District M. Garh is situated B/w River
Chanab, and River Indus in the form of a
strip and these rivers pass along the eastern
and western borders of the district
respectively. District M. Garh has extreme
hot and cold climate, and due to river
access, some parts are flooded every year
[14, 15]. Therefore, disease outbreak risk of
HS disease in such areas is remaining every
year in flood areas, so it is imperative to
follow the better vaccination strategies of
animals especially living in flood areas to
combat the outbreak of HS disease. In some
areas of Punjab and North West Frontier
Post, study on seroprevalence of
Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS) was being
done in cattle and buffalo [12, 16]. In
another study, Antibody titer in cattle with
the alum-precipitated vaccine was
monitored [15, 17]. Whereas, the routine
vaccination without monitoring their
efficacy (antibody titer) is the whole
problem of L&DD Department Punjab.
Therefore, an epidemiological
investigation, in the present study was
designed. The primary objective of this
investigation was, therefore, to evaluate the
prevalence of HS disease and antibody titer
against HS in cattle and buffalo in Dist. M.
Garh. Moreover, affects of the various risk
factor were studied on the frequency of HS
disease outbreak.
Materials and methods
Study area
This project was designed to examine in the
area of District M. Garh. Muzaffargarh is
situated in Southern Punjab Province,
almost exact center of Pakistan. The area is
spread over 8435 km2, it forms a strip
between river Chenab in the east and river
Indus in west district Multan and Khanewal
are present on the eastern side of the district
M. Garh while on western side D. G. Khan
district, on north side district Layyah and
south side district Bahawalpur is present.
District M. Garh has four tehsils as Kot
Addu, Ali Pur, Jatoi and M. Garh and in the

Pure Appl. Biol.
http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2018.700143
study different UC’s of all these tehsils
were randomly selected.
During the monsoon of 2010, almost 50%
population of people and animals were
mostly affected by the flood. The study was
carried out in cattle and buffalo (young and
adult) found in different areas (flood area,
irrigated area, and sandy area) to determine
the prevalence of HS and its morbidity,
mortality, and CFR. Whereas, different risk
factors like housing, feeding, and watering
of the animals in these areas were also
studied. The serum samples were also
analyzed to check the antibody titer of the
vaccinated and nonvaccinated animals of
these different areas.
Sampling strategy
Two groups of cattle and buffalo vaccinated
and nonvaccinated animals against HS
disease were selected. The blood samples
from cattle and buffalo were collected from
the flood, sandy and somewhat marshy
areas of District M. Garh 5 ml blood was
collected from each animal, the sample was
kept for 12 hr. in a slanting position at room
temperature for the collection of required
serum samples and was stored serum at -20
°C. The antibody titer of the vaccinated and
nonvaccinated animals was checked by
Indirect Hemagglutination Test (IHA).
Population under study
Sero-prevalence of HS was done in the area
of district M. Garh to understand the
disease prevalence and economic losses due
to a disease outbreak. Randomly ten
villages were selected from 3 different
areas as flood area, irrigated area and the
sandy area from four Tehsils of District M.
Garh (Kot Adu, Alipur, Jatoi and M. Garh.
The total population of animals from these
areas selected 4533 having 2614 cattle and
1919 buffalo. Total 2359 vaccinated and
2174 not inoculated animals were studied
(Table1 & 2). From the study area, ten
farmers were randomly selected for data
collection from each village and each
Union Council level, ten villages were
selected randomly.10 villages further
subdivided into vaccinated and
nonvaccinated groups (animals of First 5
villages were vaccinated, and other five
were not vaccinated).
Each farmer of different villages from all
areas under study was interviewed, and by
using proportional piling and seasonal
calendar, data was collected on the
prescribed questionnaire. Further 200
serum samples were taken from each area,
50 samples were collected from vaccinated,
and 50 nonvaccinated animals from cattle
and buffalo of that respective area and their
antibody titer was checked against HS
disease.
Research design
The study area is categorized into three
zones that flood area, irrigated area, and
sandy area. From each area 10 villages were
selected, from each village of each area, 10
farmers were randomly selected of which
five were vaccinated and five
nonvaccinated. Mortality rates, Morbidity
rate, and CFR were observed in different
animal population (cattle and buffalo), age
groups (young and adult), areas (flood,
irrigated and sandy). After blood sample
collection from cattle and buffalo, further
study was done in M. Garh Disease
Diagnostic Laboratory, Livestock, and
Dairy Development Department. Antibody
titer by IHA test of serum samples was
performed.
Serological analysis
Antibodies against Pasteurella multocida
were measured by indirect
hemagglutination test (IHA) using human
blood group ‘O’ [16, 18]. Briefly, two-fold
dilutions of the test sera starting from 1:5 to
1:640 were made in normal saline using
microtiter plates (96 wells) and added the
25µl amount to all the wells of plate except
those of column 11 and 12 which served as
control. First four wells (A-D) of column 11
were added with known negative serum and
last four wells (E-H) with the known
positive serum. Sensitized RBC’s (1%) was
added in equal amounts (25µl) to all the
wells of the plate so that column 12 served
as a control for the RBC’s. The plates were
incubated at room temperature for two
hours, and the observations were recorded.

Ahmad et al.
After that, the plates were kept re-incubated
under refrigeration for overnight, shaken
vigorously, allowed to resettle and were
read again. The IHA test was performed as
formerly reported [18-20]. Results were
interpreted as positive (no bead formation)
or negative (bead formation with sharp,
clear margins). The IHA antibody titers
against HS were converted into geometric
mean titers (GMT) for each group [19-21].
Statistical analysis
The statistical analysis was performed by
SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
The results of all experiments were
analyzed analysis of variance (ANOVA),
followed by Latin square design (LSD) all-
pairwise comparisons test to compare the
significance (P) between the means of
morbidity, mortality and CFR of different
groups (young and adult; buffalo and cattle;
vaccinated and nonvaccinated; flood,
irrigated and sandy areas). P ˂ 0.05 was
considered to indicate a significant
difference between the values compared.
Results
Morbidity, mortality and case fatality in
nonvaccinated and vaccinated
population
The morbidity, mortality, and CFR in all
three study areas in the nonvaccinated
population were 8.42%, 4.60%, and
54.64% respectively while in vaccinated
animal’s rates were 2.80%, 0.76%, and
27.27% respectively in cattle and buffalo
(Table 3). Whereas, from 1919 buffalo in
flood, irrigated and sandy areas, morbidity,
mortality and case fatality of nonvaccinated
animals were 14.33%, 9.04%, and 63.08%
respectively while in vaccinated animal
4.74%, 1.38% and 29.18% respectively
(Table 3). Moreover, in cattle population
(2614) morbidity, mortality and case
fatality of not vaccinated animals in these
areas 4.18%, 1.42%, and 33.96%
respectively. While in vaccinated cattle
morbidity, mortality and CFR were 1.34%,
0.30% and 22.22% respectively (Table 3).
Morbidity, mortality and case fatality
rates in flood area
Mortality, morbidity and case fatality
among nonvaccinated young buffalo in
flood area was recorded 51.47%, 40.44%,
78.57% while in adult 5.11%, 1.80% and
35.29% respectively (Table 4). Whereas, in
vaccinated young buffalo it was recorded at
22.34%, 7.45%, 33.33% while in adult
2.30%, 0.38%, and 16.67% respectively.
The morbidity, mortality, and case fatality
in nonvaccinated young cattle was noted at
13.68%, 7.37%, 53.85%, however, an adult
4.22%,1.61%, and 36.36% respectively.
However, in young vaccinated cattle, it was
observed with 10.96%, 2.74%, 25.00%,
while in adult 1.31%, 0.44% and 33.33%
respectively (Table 4).
Morbidity, mortality and case fatality
rates in the irrigated area
Morbidity, mortality and case fatality in
nonvaccinated young buffalo recorded
31.88%, 18.84%, 50.09%, while in adult
4.27%, 2.44% and 57.14% respectively,
while in adult it was 4.27%, 2.44%, and
57.14% respectively (Table 4), whereas in
vaccinated young buffalo in irrigated area it
was observed 9.09%, 3.78%, and 41.66%
respectively, while in adult it was 1.59%,
0.32%, and 20.00% respectively.
Morbidity, mortality and case fatality in
nonvaccinated young Cattle recorded
6.41%, 2.56%, 40.00%, while in adult
3.72%, 0.93% and 25.00% respectively
(Table 4). However, in vaccinated young
cattle in recorded irrigated area 4.00, 1.00,
and 25.00 respectively, while in adult
1.00%, 0.00% and 0.00% respectively
(Table 4).
Morbidity, mortality and case fatality
rates in the sandy area
Mortality, morbidity and case fatality in
young nonvaccinated buffalo in sandy areas
was recorded 16.33%, 4.84%, 30.00%,
while in adult it was noted 2.79%, 0.69%,
and 25.00% respectively, whereas, in
vaccinated young buffalo in sandy area it
was 3.71%, 0.00%, 0.00% while in adult
0.77%, 0.00% and 0.00% respectively
(Table 4).

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Mortality, morbidity and case fatality in
young nonvaccinated cattle in sandy areas
was recorded 3.55% 1.02%, 28.57%, while
in adult 2.09%, 0.23% and 11.11%
respectively, whereas, in vaccinated young
cattle in sandy area it was 1.00%, 0.00%,
0.00% while in adult 0.00%, 0.00% and
0.00% respectively (Table 4).
Comparison of means of different
parameters under investigation
The comparison of the means presented in
(Table 5). It was noted that among the age
group the morbidity, mortality and case
fatality in young buffalo was 12.56%,
22.44%, 40.44% which was significantly
higher as compared to the young cattle
except case fatality (28.74%) which has no
significant difference with young buffalo.
However, the adult group the morbidity
(0.94% in buffalo and 0.54% in cattle) has
no significant difference, whereas the
mortality and case fatality was significantly
higher in adult buffalo (2.82% and 25.68%)
as compared with cattle (1.97% and 17.63)
(Table 5).
Moreover, the nonvaccinated animal
population has significantly higher
morbidity, mortality and case fatality
(6.89%, 12.13%, and 39.99% respectively)
than vaccinated animal population (1.33,
4.71 and 16.25 respectively) (Table 5).
Furthermore, the morbidity (7.78%, 3.71%,
and 0.84%) in different areas (food,
irrigated and sandy) have no significant
difference among them. However, the
mortality, case fatality (13.95%, 39.05%)
was significantly higher in flood area, and
lesser in the sandy area (3.76% and
11.84%) (Table 5).
IHA Titer against HS in various areas
The flood area nonvaccinated buffalo in
flood area the GMT was recorded 6.97
while in vaccinated buffalo recorded 45.16
(Table 6), whereas, GMT in nonvaccinated
cattle recorded 8.29 while in vaccinated
cattle observed 49 (Table 6). In the irrigated
area, the GMT in nonvaccinated buffalo
was noted 8.88, while in vaccinated buffalo
it was recorded 45.16 (Table 6). The GMT
in nonvaccinated cattle was 8.29 whereas,
in vaccinated cattle was 49 (Table 6).
However, in the sandy area, the GMT
among nonvaccinated buffalo was 13.54,
while in vaccinated buffalo it was noted
47.33 (Table 6). Whereas the GMT in
nonvaccinated cattle recorded 10.24 while
in vaccinated cattle it was recorded at 47.95
(Table 6).
Discussion
Hemorrhagic septicemia is a globally
significant livestock disease. However, due
to poor livestock farm practices, it is more
severe in Asia and Africa. The climate
change for the animal is important, as the
particular breed rearing under adverse
environmental conditions or environment,
influence the exposure to the disease and
cause substantial economic losses to the
livestock breeders [22]. This is the first
report on seroprevalence of HS disease in
changing climate condition (flood, irrigated
and sandy) in M. Garh. Moreover, the study
was carried out to check the prevalence of
HS disease in district M. Garh in different
geographical areas (flood, irrigated and
sandy) and different age groups (young and
adult). The population of animals in district
M. Garh was 4533 in which young animals
were 1347 while adult animals were 3186.
The seroprevalence of HS in various age
group was already investigated in different
districts of Pakistan [12, 16], whereas in
different geographical region or condition
were also investigated [13].
In our study area vaccinated animals in
flood areas were 657, in irrigated areas
were 940 and in the sandy area were 762
while nonvaccinated animals in flood area
were 813, in the irrigated area were 526 and
in the sandy area were 835. In another
study, animals were selected in towns,
small villages, and big villages. The
animals were compared regarding the HS
disease outbreaks in these different areas
[12, 13].

Ahmad et al.
Table 1. Animal population under investigation in irrigated, flood and sandy areas
n is the number of animals
Table 2. Populations of cattle and buffalo in different areas
n is the number of animals
Vaccine status
Flood area
Total
(n)
Irrigated area
Total
Sandy area
Total
(n)
Total
Young (n)
Adult
(n)
Young
(n)
Adult
(n)
Young
(n)
Adult
(n)
Young
(n)
Adult
(n)
Total
(n)
Vaccinated
167
490
657
261
679
940
282
480
762
710
1649
2359
Nonvaccinated
231
582
813
147
379
526
259
576
835
637
1537
2174
Total
398
1072
1470
408
1058
1466
541
1056
1597
1347
3186
4533
Vaccine Status
Flood area
Irrigated area
Sand area
Total
buffalo
Total
cattle
Total
Buffalo (n)
Cattle (n)
Buffalo (n)
Cattle (n)
Buffalo (n)
Cattle (n)
Young
Adult
Young
Adult
Young
Adult
Young
Adult
Young
Adult
Young
Adult
Vaccinated
94
261
73
229
132
314
129
365
81
130
201
350
1012
1347
2359
Nonvaccinated
136
333
95
249
69
164
78
215
62
143
197
433
907
1267
2174
Total
230
594
168
478
201
478
207
580
143
273
398
783
1919
2614
4533

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Table 3. Morbidity mortality and case fatality in buffaloes and cattle’s in vaccinated and nonvaccinated animals
Species
Area
Population (n)
Total
(n)
Morbidity (%)
Mortality (%)
Case fatality (%)
Nonvaccinated
Vaccinated
Nonvaccinated
Vaccinated
Nonvaccinated
Vaccinated
Nonvaccinated
Vaccinated
Buffalo
Floody
469
355
824
18.55
7.61
13.01
2.25
70.11
29.63
Irrigated
233
446
679
12.45
3.81
7.30
1.35
58.62
35.29
Sandy
205
211
416
6.83
1.90
1.95
0.00
28.57
0.00
Total
907
1012
1919
14.33
4.74
9.04
1.38
63.08
29.17
Cattle
Floody
344
302
646
6.98
3.64
3.20
0.99
45.83
27.27
Irrigated
293
494
787
4.44
1.01
1.37
0.20
30.77
20.00
Sandy
630
551
1181
2.54
0.36
0.48
0.00
18.75
0.00
Total
1267
1347
2614
4.18
1.34
1.42
0.30
33.96
22.22
n is the number of animals
Table 4. Morbidity, mortality and case fatality in different areas and age groups
Areas
Species
Vaccination
Status
Young
Adult
Total no. of
animals (n)
Morbidity
(%)
Mortality
(%)
Case
fatality
(%)
Total No of
Animals
(n)
Morbidity
(%)
Mortality
(%)
Case fatality
(%)
Flood Area
Buffalo
Nonvaccinated
136
51.47
40.44
78.57
333
5.11
1.81
35.29
Vaccinated
94
22.34
7.45
33.33
261
2.30
0.38
16.67
Cattle
Nonvaccinated
95
13.68
7.37
53.85
249
4.42
1.61
36.36
Vaccinated
73
10.96
2.74
25.00
229
1.31
0.44
33.33
Irrigated
Area
Buffalo
Nonvaccinated
69
31.88
18.84
59.09
164
4.27
2.44
57.14
Vaccinated
132
9.09
3.78
41.66
314
1.59
0.32
20.00
Cattle
Nonvaccinated
78
6.41
2.56
40.00
215
3.72
0.93
25.00
Vaccinated
129
4.00
1.00
25.00
365
1.00
0.00
0.00
Sandy Area
Buffalo
Nonvaccinated
62
16.13
4.84
30.00
143
2.79
0.69
25.00
Vaccinated
81
3.71
0.00
0.00
130
0.77
0.00
0.00
Cattle
Nonvaccinated
197
3.55
1.02
28.57
433
2.09
0.23
11.11
Vaccinated
201
1.00
0.00
0.00
350
0.00
0.00
0.00
n is the number of animals

Ahmad et al.
Table 5. Mean values of morbidity, mortality, and case fatality in different parameters
under study (mean ± standard error). Mean values followed by the same letter in the same
column for each parameter (age, vaccination, and areas) do not vary significantly (P <
0.05)
Table 6. Indirect hemagglutinating test titers against HS in buffalo and cattle of different
geographical regions
The morbidity, mortality, and CFR in all
three study areas in nonvaccinated
population (cattle and buffalo) were higher
(8.42%, 4.60%, and 54.64% respectively)
as compared with the vaccinated animal’s
(2.80%, 0.76% and 27.27% respectively)
(Table 3). The result agrees with former
investigation that vaccination provides
better immunity and reduce the morbidity,
incidence rate, mortality and case fatality
due to HS disease in the animal population
[17, 23] also in the poultry vaccinated birds
have less morbidity, mortality and case
fatality as compared to the nonvaccinated
[19, 20]. Whereas, from buffalo in flood,
irrigated and sandy areas, morbidity,
mortality and case fatality of nonvaccinated
animals (14.33%, 9.04% and 63.08%
respectively), vaccinated animal (4.74%,
1.38%, and 29.18% respectively) (Table 3)
greater from cattle population is not
vaccinated (4.18%, 1.42%, and 33.96%
respectively), and in vaccinated cattle
(1.34%, 0.30%, and 22.22% respectively)
(Table 3). Therefore it can be concluded
from the findings that the buffalos are more
susceptible to the diseases as compared to
the cattle’s [9, 16]. Moreover, the
mortality, morbidity, and case fatality
among nonvaccinated and vaccinated
young buffalo in flood, irrigated and a
sandy area greater than nonvaccinated and
vaccinated adult population (Table 4). The
same pattern was observed in
nonvaccinated and vaccinated young and
adult cattle in the different environmental
Sr. No
Parameters
Morbidity (%)
Mortality (%)
Case Fatality (%)
1
Age
Young buffalo
12.56±3.96a
22.44±2.19a
40.44±5.75a
Young cattle
2.42± 3.96b
6.46±2.19b
28.74±5.75ab
Adult buffalo
0.94±3.96b
2.82±2.19b
25.68±5.75b
Adult cattle
0.54±3.96b
1.97±2.19c
17.63±5.75c
2
Vaccination
Nonvaccinated
6.89±2.79a
12.13±2.96a
39.99±4.06a
Vaccinated
1.33±2.79b
4.71±2.96b
16.25±4.06b
3
Areas
Flood
7.78±3.43a
13.95±3.63a
39.05±4.98a
Irrigated
3.71±3.43a
7.54±3.63b
33.48±4.98b
Sandy
0.84±3.43a
3.76±3.63c
11.84±4.98c
Species
Area
Vaccination status
Distribution of animals on the basis of H.S. (IHA) titer
GMT
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Buffalo
Flood
Nonvaccinated
5
6
8
14
17
06.97
Vaccinated
7
17
12
9
5
33.18
Irrigated
Nonvaccinated
2
7
13
9
6
13
08.88
Vaccinated
18
3
9
15
5
45.16
Sandy
Nonvaccinated
2
7
2
4
16
17
2
13.54
Vaccinated
8
11
16
9
6
47.33
Cattle
Flood
Nonvaccinated
7
3
11
8
21
07.08
Vaccinated
3
19
8
5
11
2
38.03
Irrigated
Nonvaccinated
6
1
11
12
15
5
08.29
Vaccinated
4
6
8
9
14
9
49.00
Sandy
Nonvaccinated
0
8
6
15
10
11
10.24
Vaccinated
1
3
15
18
13
45.97

Pure Appl. Biol.
http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2018.700143
area (Table 4). The same was observed
previously that in young animal population
the morbidity, mortality and case fatality
was higher than adult animal population
[16] this may be due to the better immune
response or having already exposure of the
microorganism from the environment or by
vaccination.
It was noted that among the age group the
morbidity, mortality and case fatality in
young buffalo was significantly higher than
young cattle except case fatality which has
no significant difference with young
buffalo. However, the adult group the
mortality and case fatality was significantly
higher in adult buffalo as compared with
cattle [11]. Moreover, the nonvaccinated
animal population has considerably higher
morbidity, mortality and case fatality than
vaccinated animal population (Table 5) [9].
Furthermore, the mortality, case fatality
was significantly higher in flood area, and
lesser in the sandy area (Table 5).
The comparative value of GMT against HS
deducted with IHA test both for cattle and
buffalo presented in (Table 6). GMT in
vaccine status and category of animals
showed that it was higher in vaccinated
animal than nonvaccinated animal
population. Moreover, the GMT was
greater in the sandy area as compared with
flood and irrigated area. Furthermore, the
GMT for vaccinated buffalo was lesser as
compared to the vaccinated cattle making
them more susceptible to the disease. The
results are in line with previously noted
finding, the higher GMT values for cattle as
compared to those of buffalo [16, 18].
Conclusion
The highly endemic nature of HS disease
indicates its important in cattle and buffalo
in Asia and Africa. The mortality and case
fatality were high in HS disease unlike
other livestock diseases, indicates the
importance of disease in maintaining the
overall animal assets and lively hood of
livestock farmers. The control option
mitigates the disease especially in more
susceptible species (buffalo and cattle) and
area (flood, irrigated and sandy) and if
vaccination is planned and implemented
based on the epidemiological results, the
disease burden can be minimized. It can be
concluded from the present investigation
that HS is endemically occurring in cattle
and buffalo. Buffalo are more susceptible of
disease as compared to the cattle, moreover,
the young population of buffalo and cattle
highly affected (morbidity, mortality, and
CFR) of HS as compared with the adult
stock. It was also noted that the morbidity,
mortality, CFR was greater in flood area,
and lesser in a sandy area.
Authors’ contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments:
KU Rehman & M Aziz, Performed the
experiments: M Ahmad, Analyzed the data:
RU Rehman, A Rehman, KU Rehman & M
Ahmad, Contributed materials/ analysis/
tools: RU Rehman, A Rehman, T Tunio, A
Hameed, T Naveed, M Tanveer & M Ali,
Wrote the paper: KU Rehman.
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