LAUSR

Background: Chronic diarrhoea is a frequently presenting complaint by the cattle owners and some presents as non-responsive to routine treatment. Such cases are often a diagnostic challenge because of wide ranging etiologies. In Indian context few data is available on prevalent causes of chronic diarrhoea in bovines. Salmonellosis is one of the important cause of chronic diarrhoea in crossbred cattle. Therefore, the study was conducted to investigate the role of Salmonella in chronic diarrhoea of crossbred cattle and to determine microbiological profile of bile in cattle with chronic idiopathic diarrhoea. Methods: Twenty (n=20) adult dairy cattle presented with the history of chronic diarrhoea at Large Animal Clinics, GADVASU, Ludhiana from September 2015 to June 2016 were selected for the study. Case histories were recorded, faecal, blood and bile samples were collected from 20 animals. Bile was collected through ultrasound guided cholecystocentesis (PUC) from 20 cattle and five healthy cattle. The faecal and bile samples were cultured for isolation and identification of bacterial pathogens using selective and non-selective media with special emphasis on isolation of Salmonella spp. Microscopic examination of faeces were done to rule out parasitic cause of diarrhoea and for acid-fast bacilli (AFB). The serum samples were employed to detect antibodies against Mycobacterium avium spp paratuberculosis using serum ELISA. Result: Investigations have showed culture of bile and faecal did not yield Salmonella spp; however E.coli was isolated from 6 cows (30%), Klebsiella spp in 9 cows (45%) and Pseudomonas spp from 1 cow (5%) from bile culture of diarrhoeic cattle. PCR results of E.coli culture from bile showed hlyA virulence genes which expected band at 534 bp however these isolates were negative for other virulence gene of E.coli. It was observed in this study that bactibilia was associated with chronic diarrhoea in three fourth of the diarrhoeic cattle.