Dromedary - Diseases and Parasites

Diseases and Parasites

Dromedary is prone to trypanosomiasis, a parasitic disease caused by Trypanosoma evansi, T. brucei, T. congolense and T. simiae. It is transmitted by Glossina and Tabinidae species. The main symptoms are recurring fever, anemia and weakness, which usually ends with the camel's death. Brucellosis is another disease of dromedaries. In an observational study, the seroprevalence of the disease was usually low (2-5%) in nomadic or loosely confined dromedaries, while it was high (8-15%) in those kept closely together. Brucellosis is caused by different biotypes of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis.

In a study of 1039 camels in 33 herds in central Somalia, T. evansi was a prevalent parasite (1.7%-56.4% in blood smears). A total of 2.2% of the camels tested positive for brucellosis. Other internal parasites include Fasciola gigantica (a trematode), Echinococcus polymorphous and Taenia marginata (two cestodes), Trichuris, Nematodirus, Strongyloides, Haemonchus and Onchocerca (nematodes). Among external parasites, Sarcoptes species cause sarcoptic mange. In a study in Jordan, 83% of the 32 camels tested positive for sarcoptic mange, and 33% of the 257 examined specimens were seroprevalent for trypanosomiasis. In another study, following the rinderpest outbreak in Ethiopia, it was found that dromedaries have natural antibodies against rinderpest virus and peste des petits ruminants virus (ovine rinderpest).