Elsevier

Acta Tropica

Volume 231, July 2022, 106415
Acta Tropica

Pathological insights into camel mastitis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106415Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Camel is emerging multipurpose dairy candidate.

  • Udder infection is at rise round the globe.

  • Limitations to overcome udder pathology is challenge.

  • Udder pathophysiology of camel is unique.

  • Differential components of camel milk strengthen therapeutics.

Abstract

Camel is a multipurpose animal bred to produce milk, meat, and transport and serves as a financial reserve for pastoralists by playing an important role in social prestige and prosperity. Camel milk is a good substitute for human milk because of its exceptional nutritional properties. Udder infections are considered one of the main limitations to camel farming. In recent decades, the disease has been reported by numerous camel-producing countries in Africa and Asia, such as Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. The current review provides an overview of the forms of camel mastitis, which can be clinical mastitis characterized by hardening and swelling of the breast, pain on palpation, and visible changes in the colour and texture of the milk or subclinical mastitis refers to the presence of inflammation with no obvious signs and it can be detected by indirect tests such as the California mastitis test (CMT), somatic cell count (SCC), and microbiological examination. Major pathogens of camel mastitis are Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Escherichia coli, and Corynebacterium bovis. Regarding the risk factors for camel mastitis, this study provides an overview of the most important risk factors such as severe tick infestation, teat injuries, hygienic milking protocols, and physiological disorders causing mastitis. The use of indirect tests and bacteriological studies as diagnostic tools and their values for detecting camel mastitis will also be reviewed. Based on the above, further epidemiological studies on camel mastitis are needed to have solid scientific data on disease transmission, pathogen characterization, other possible risk factors or diagnostic methods, and the impact of the disease on public health. Proper control strategies should be adopted through early diagnosis, treatment and by avoiding potential risk factors to get good quality milk from camels.

Introduction

Camel (Camelus dromedaries or one-humped camel) is the presiding and usually dispersed animal in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa (Iyer et al., 2014). According to Pakistan economic survey 2020–2021, the total camel population is 1.1 million, which produces 0.932 million tonnes of milk used for human consumption. The annual milk yield of camel varies from 2500 litters to 4900 litres with a daily average of 6–8 litres/head during 8 to 18 months of lactation period (Ahmad et al., 2012). Arabian camel is an important source of food and milk in various regions of the world especially in developing countries of Asia and Africa. The two-humped camels survive in a cold climate, so their milk fat can become up to 8% which can act as an energy source for the newborn (Alhadrami, 2002). However, one-humped camels live in hot climate zones, so their fat content is less while water content is more (Farah, 2011). The most significant feature of dehydrated camels is their capability to carry on lactation along with the secretion of highly diluted milk containing more than 90% water content. The ability of the dromedary camel to live under desert conditions and to survive in the remarkably harsh climate of the Sahara is because of its natural and physiological particularities having the ability to survive in the scarcity of water and food and adoption to the hot atmosphere (Ouajd and Kamel, 2009). Food safety issues in camel milk processing are unhygienic practices particularly at farm and market levels, lack of cold chain, absence of standard processing protocols, and consumption of raw camel milk. Camel milk is considered as one of the chief constituents of the diet of wanderers in arid and semiarid zones and crucial for the livelihood of people where no milk from other milking animals is available (Abdurahman, 2006). Additionally, camel milk has been reported to have therapeutic value against several diseases like jaundice, dropsy, spleen enlargement, asthma, tuberculosis, piles, anemia, and food allergies. It is suggested that the nutritious value of camel milk is higher in comparison to other animals due to a large amount of protein, quality fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins, particularly vitamin C (Kouniba et al., 2005).

Mastitis is an important disease that causes economic losses not only in terms of milk loss but also damages the udder's health. Stages of mastitis can vary from per-acute swelling to fibrosis resulting in damage of abundant secretory tissue in chronic mastitis (Al-Otaibi and El-Demerdash, 2013). Treatment is very costly in case of chronic mastitis and mostly results in the loss of infected quarter (Khan and Khan, 2006). Subclinical mastitis is responsible for low milk production without the appearance of clinical signs of the disease (Al-Majali et al., 2007). Negative effects of mastitis on the dairy industry include decreased milk production temporarily or permanently, deteriorated milk quality due to unfavorable properties, reduced milk price due to high somatic cell count, loss of milk due to antibiotic treatment, and increased cost of animal care, decreased productive life of the animal, and annual losses because of decreased inclusive production of dairy products to meet the requirements of the country (Tuteja et al., 2013).

Camel mastitis, like in other dairy animals is being reported at its bloom. However, studies earlier to the 20th century indexed camel mastitis among diseases of lower prevalence. This is due to higher lactoferrin contents, characteristically antibacterial, that puts camel mastitis on feeble priority for epidemiological studies. Recent studies identified various potential risk factors salient of which are parity, age, immune status, bacterial load, intrinsic pathogenicity of a pathogen, type and strain of the pathogen, and lactation status of camel (Al-Majali et al., 2007). Keeping in view the various discrepancies, the current review is aimed to focus on various aspects of camel mastitis, diagnosis, therapeutic and preventive measures.

The data regarding prevalence of mastitis from different countries was collected based on availability of articles in google scholar, PubMed, and science direct. Different key words were used for the search including camel, mastitis, bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, streptococcus, klebsiella, and risk factors. Descriptive statistics were applied to find average of mastitis from each country which is written in Fig. 1. Other subsections of this manuscript were compiled by using key words related to their content and preferably synonyms of the subject matter were used to extract maximum data. The articles having been cited in JCR list were preferred however for this manuscript.

Section snippets

Global trends of camel mastitis

Worldwide average camel mastitis calculated from different studies presented 45.66% of camel population suffering from mastitis starting from lowest of 16% in Somalia (Mohamud et al., 2020), to the highest of 90.5% in Pakistan (Qamar et al., 2011) on individual study basis. The average percentage of mastitis in each country surfaced is 57.5% (Pakistan) to 42.8% (Ethiopia). It is noteworthy here that prevalence studies need to be revised based on inclusion of a higher sample size. Camel

Significant bacterial aetiologies

The mammary glands try their best to provide defence using teat sphincters, keratin layer, and inflammatory mediators. The invaders that surpass the aforementioned barriers are successful in disease pathogenesis (Radostits et al., 2006).

Staphylococcus aureus: The infection with this kind of bacteria is of longer duration and chronic in nature due to their ability to reside in epithelial cells of mammary glands. This bacterium is infecting an equally wider range of dairy animals (Javed et al.,

Pathophysiology of camel udder

Physiology of camel udder: The Camel udder comprises four glandular quarters and is situated in the inguinal region. The left and right halves are isolated from each other by fibroblastic tissue, stretching out from the linea alba to the prepubic ligament. A groove is present between the left and right parts, which is more obvious in the lactating udder than in the dry camel. The lateral part of the quarters is secured by tissue from the abdominal tunica and the caudal wall of the abdomen. The

Differential milk components as an pathognomy

Camels and riverine buffaloes can produce quality milk in extreme environments. Buffalo milk is mostly used to make dairy products with specific features while camel milk is preferred in the preparation of medicines and donkey milk is used to produce hypo-allergic milk for children. Qualitatively, major factors which affect the milk composition are the same for all the species (Silanikove et al., 2016). Camel milk is the main source of human nutrition in arid zones. Camel can produce more milk

Tools of camel milk for self and extended pathological conditions

Pertinent constituents of camel milk are helpful for fighting different indigenous and exogenous pathological conditions in harsh weather conditions. The properties of these constituents are equally effective for humans regarding wider varieties of pathological conditions. Diseases in certain regions of Asia and Africa have long been being treated with camel milk which are now holding scientists’ ground. Camel milk can be used as an alternative intervention to statin therapy for dyslipidemia. A

Emerging challenges of camel mastitis

Diagnostic issues: There is a lack of knowledge about commonly used tests for the detection of subclinical mastitis in dromedary camels (Aljumaah et al., 2020). The normal level of cells and their physiological variations and lack of standards of SCC in Camelidae generate difficulty in both somatic cell counting and mastitis diagnosis. However, a study has given the SCC readings in camels using the cut-off Log10 SCC value of 5.67 (SCC=472.50 × 03 cells/ml). Previously used techniques are not

Economic losses due to camel mastitis

Concerning financial loss, mastitis is the chief ailment of the dairy industry. Although the mortality rate is low, it is mostly linked to decreased milk production and loss of infected quarters. Stages of mastitis can be variable from per-acute swelling to fibrous tissue formation resulting in the damage of abundant secretory tissue in chronic mastitis. Additionally, consumption of contaminated milk poses a greater risk to public health and becomes a source of milk-borne diseases in humans

Conclusion and recommendations

Camel mastitis is emerging as a challenge globally since the last decade. Overall camel community is experiencing unhygienic conditions, unavailability of health awareness, and lack of health infrastructure that probably are key factors in the emergence of mastitis. The reportable cases observe various loopholes in screening techniques in terms of unavailability of the threshold of somatic cell count and the presence of cell fragments that lead to the false enumeration of somatic cell count.

Declaration of Competing Interest

Authors declare no conflict of interest regarding manuscript “Pathological insights into camel mastitis”.

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