Authors : J.S. Dalis, H.M. Kazeem, A.A. Makinde, M.Y. Fatihu and G.Y. Dashe
Abstract: A study was carried out to determine bacteria associated with pathology of bovine dermatophilosis in north central Nigeria. Skin samples obtained from 211 cattle with skin lesions suspected to be dermatophilosis were processed for bacteriology and histopathology. One hundred and sixty seven (79.1%) samples were positive for Dermatophilus congolensis, while 44 (20.9%) were negative. Both D. congolensis positive and negative samples were processed for isolation of other bacteria and the data was analyzed using χ2-test. Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus sp., Corynebacterium sp., Escherichia coli, Proteus and Pseudomonas sp. were isolated from both D. congolensis positive and D. congolensis negative scabs. However, the rate of recovery of S. aureus from D. congolensis positive cattle was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the rate of its recovery from D. congolensis negative cattle. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the occurrence of the other isolates in D. congolensis positive and negative cattle. Histopathology revealed hyperplasia of the epidermis, parakeratosis, necrosis, cellular infiltration of the hair follicles and papillary dermis, diffuse cellular infiltration of the reticular dermis and folliculitis were also observed in some sections. It was concluded that the histopathological lesions observed could be due to D. congolensis complicated by secondary bacterial infection. The need to investigate the role of bacteria particularly that of S. aureus in the development of bovine dermatophilosis was emphasized.
J.S. Dalis, H.M. Kazeem, A.A. Makinde, M.Y. Fatihu and G.Y. Dashe, 2010. Bacteria Associated with Pathology of Bovine Dermatophilosis in North Central Nigeria. Veterinary Research, 3: 4-8.