Field Epidemiology of an Outbreak of Hemorrhagic Septicemia in Dromedary Population of Greater Cholistan Desert (Pakistan)

An outbreak of a respiratory disease occurred in the dromedary population of Greater Cholistan desert, which was quite foreign to the locale. The duration of outbreak was more than a month (from the mid of November 2010 to the mid of December 2010). Prevalence, cumulative mortality and case fatality of outbreak were 0.79, 0.018 and 0.023, respectively. The disease was characterized by pyrexia (up to 107.4°F), severe dyspnea due to choking of nasal cavity with thick gummy material and abortion during late gestation. The disease ran a clinical course of 5-7 days. Febrile carcasses showed congestion of all visceral organs, petechial hemorrhages on the serosal surfaces, serosanguineous fluid in the thoracic and abdominal cavities and pneumonia. Postmortem findings indicated septicemia. Pasteurella multocida subsp. multocida was isolated from representative clinical and morbid specimens. Treatment trial on clinical cases indicated ciprofloxacin, ceftiofur hydrochloride, gentamicin + tylosin and thiamphenicol + tylosin to be highly efficacious.