Sheep strawberry footrot in Al-Diwaniyah Province-Iraq

Abstract

The study was conducted to confirm the registration of strawberry footrot in sheep in AL-Diwaniyah Province in Iraq. A flock composed of fifty sheep of various ages was observed lesions like warts in five lambs; three samples were collected from each lesion. Samples of crusts and scabs were collected into sterile tubes. Swaps were taken deeply from lesions for direct smear and bacteria culture. 1 cm3 lesion tissue samples had been taken and fixed in 10% formalin for histopathological examination. Results were revealed that the five animals exhibited clinical signs of the presence of obvious warts like lesions in distal limb with grey or brown color covered with grey crusts between coronet and knee joint with 1- 4 cm in diameter and raised about 0.5 from the surface of the skin, the lesion is very painful when touched. Some lesions are showed bleeding this gave the appearance looks like a strawberry fruit. All the smears from the animal species demonstrated Gram-positive, filamentous branching arrangement enclosing 2-4 rows of coccoid cells (like a tree) indicating the characteristic microscopic morphology of Dermatophilus congolensis. A granular growth at the bottom like cotton with clear supernatant liquid colonies was observed on liquid media. The histopathological study revealed that there were hyperkeratosis, Parakeratosis, thickening in the stratum spinosum layer of epidermis, as well as, deposition of huge melanin pigment in the stratum spinosum cells and acanthosis nigricans, while the histopathological changes in the dermis layer showed edema, deposition of granulation tissue and presence of vesicles that may contain coccoidal cells, also there were infiltration of inflammatory cells in the dermis and in between the sebaceous glands of skin .