Group A rotavirus and Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis associated with diarrhea in dromedary camels in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Diarrhea in newborn calves as well as in adult dromedary camels is considered the most serious constrains of camel production. It is recorded in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia to be very high, therefore, it is necessary to investigate the role of certain pathogenic agents. In the present study, group A rotavirus was detected in 5/50 (10%) and 6/50 (12%) diarrheic samples collected from one- to three-month-old camel calves using immune chromatographic and ELISA techniques, respectively. The characteristic wheel-like morphology of rotavirus particles was identified in the positive samples by electron microscopy. Also, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis was detected in 5/50 (10%) and 30/50 (60%) three- to five-year-old diarrheic dromedary camels, respectively, using direct Ziehl-Neelsen staining of fecal smears and PCR assays.