Detection of Clostridium perfringens Alpha, Epsilon and Clostridium chauvoei A toxin genes in Blackleg
Azam Ali Nasir1*, Muhammad Usman Ashraf1, Asma Kausar1, Nofil Mustafa1, Zain-ul Fatima1,
Mobeen Sarwar2, Rabia Riaz1, Waseem Shahzad1, Abdul Khaliq2, Riaz Hussain3
1Veterinary Research Institute, Lahore Cantt, Pakistan
2Provincial Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Cooper Road, Lahore, Pakistan
3College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Abstract
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) detected concurrent infection of Clostridium (C.) perfringens type D and C. chauvoei in samples of three cattle out of five which were submitted to Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) for confirmation of C. chauvoei. The animals had a history of fever, lameness and crepitating sound with death occurring within 48 hours after the onset of clinical signs and seemed to be typical cases of black leg. Furthermore, the traditional methods including clinical examination, necropsy findings, cultural and biological methods are not solely enough for the confirmation of disease and are not sufficient to determine the number of pathogens involved in such cases.
Keywords: C. chauvoei, C. perfringens type D, Cattle, PCR, Concurrent infection