Some epidemiological studies on toe tumor in the Arabian Camel (Camelus dromedarius)

Toe tumor is a relatively common, aggressive and locally invasive in camels. The study was planned to investigate some aspects of toe tumor epidemiology. A total of 150 cases of toe tumor in Arabian camel has been reported to Al-Tiba Veterinary Hospital during the period of 2012- 2014. Outpatient cases from different camel breeds (Hazmi, Local, Omani and Sudani). Were diagnosed after planing work-up for clinical and pathological investigations. A total of 37493 camles (6249 camel herds) were examined for the presence of toe tumor lesions. The overall prevalence rate of toe tumor in the present study was 0.4%. The prevalence of tumors in the Sudani, Local, Omani and Hazmi breed was 1.87%, 0.51%, 0.34% and 0.3%, respectively. Three different types of toe tumors squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), fibroma and spiny keratoderma were recorded in the present study. SCC showed a higher percentage of toe tumor (76.0 %), followed by Fibroma (21.33 %) and spiny keratoderma (2.67 %). The percentage of SCC was (15.79%, 29.82%, 45.61% and 8.78%) in Hazmi, Local, Omani and Sudani, respectively. Also, 15.62%, 29.82%, 45.61 and 6.25% of Fibroma were diagnosed in Hazmi, Local, Omani and Sudani, respectively, while Sping keratoderma was found only inLocal (75.00%) and Sudani breed (25.00%). The prevalence rate of toe tumor in female and male camels was 0.42% and 0.27%, respectively. The incidence of toe tumor was 101 (67.33%) in forelimb and 49 (32.67%) in the hind limb. The percentage of tumors in the right and left limbs was 88 (58.67%) and 60 (40.00%), respectively, while only 2 (1.33%) of the tumors were found in both limbs at the same time. The incidence of different types of tumors in relation to the position of the toes was (96.67%) in medial and (3.33%) in lateral, respectively. The percentage of toe tumors in left limb was 40.0% and in right limb was 58.67%. The prevalence rate of different types of tumor, according to the age of camel involved was 34 (0.23%), 43 (0.38%), 40 (0.53%) and 33 (0.88%) in the age group 6-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-25 years, respectively. The tumors are particularly deleterious in that they can interfere with the normal physiological function of the musculoskeletal system that is essential for life.