Saudi Arabia… Camel Deaths Alarm Yanbu Livestock Owners
Arab News – Saudi Arabia – 9 December 2007
Over 20 camels have died in Yanbu recently after eating contaminated fodder, said livestock owners. They complained that the Ministry of Agriculture has failed to deploy vets to deal with the problem.
December 21, 2007 at 12:08 pm |
It seems there is a lack of epidemiological study. It should be interesting to have the true history of this event with the exact number of death animals and so on.
December 22, 2007 at 2:36 am |
As the above comment indicated, many of us gathered thethe deaths occur as a result of contaminated feed, the root of the cause for such death should be investigated so that the findings will benefit all involved in camel research. I will also like to commend ISOCARD for establishing this blog it will foster the interaction between members, Keep it up.
December 22, 2007 at 10:25 am |
I congratulate ISOCARD for creating such blog. About the deaths, I can purpose that the suspected fodder / feed should be analyzed for the presence of any toxic materials and testing it on lab animals. I suspect it could be mycotoxin or some poisonous plant. We can only rule out these by some scientific analysis.
December 22, 2007 at 5:18 pm |
First of all I think this new service is really important and will facilitate the information share for members or non members interested in camelids health research.
For the case of camels death in saudia arabia I think this case should reveal whether the prior investigation reached the real cause of that massive deaths few months back (feed sprayed with poisonous insecticidal).
If I may suggest to the ISOCARD memebers form saudia arabia to post a detailed clinical findings of the case if it was available, so other members will be able to give more informed tentative diagnosis.
January 3, 2008 at 5:43 am |
ISOCARD forum really deserve a lot of appreciation for its setting which is an ideal source of interaction among camel researchers.To me something wrong happened with the feeding material of camels.To sort out the issue feed analysis along wih soil analysis be made manadtory for having a complete answer.Along with this other feeding management factors also be considered.I think there could be a general mnagemnt problem also.Investigation results be shared through website will be highly appreciated.
January 9, 2008 at 11:31 am |
these exchqnge are quite interesting and must be increased. My concern is that the overmortality reported in Saudi Arabia got a good benefit from media but overmortality is a big problem in other countries especially in Africa without mediatic support. Of course the causes seem to be different (new emerging viruse? combination of virus and bacterial contamination? Hemoparasitosis? intoxication?). Unfortunately it is difficult to get samples (blood, organs) for analysis in reference lab. We have to share the results of the analysis and of epidemiological study. I expect that a special round table could be organized at the next ISOCARD conference.
January 11, 2008 at 7:04 am |
Hello Dr. Ghalib and the group- The blog is a great idea-
It came to my knowledge that salinomycin, an ionophore antibiotic, was to blame for the death of camels in Saudi Arabia. “Ionophore antibiotics are used in farming for the prevention of coccidiodomycosis in poultry and to alter gut flora in order to improve nutrient absorption in ruminants. However, this class of antibiotics affects both animal and bacterial cell physiology. Their mechanism of action at the cellular level is to selectively bind certain ions creating intra- and extracellular biochemical disturbances. The ions bound vary with different members of this class of drug, with salinomycin preferentially binding potassium. This interferes with potassium transport across mitchondrial membranes, resulting in low intracellular energy production”. The same antibiotic caused the death of many camels in Dubai some time ago. Another member of the group, Monensin, was also suspected to cause some camel deaths in Abu Dhabi several years back. The identification and quantitation of ionophore antibiotics in feed and biological matrices is relatively easy with LC-MS-MS.
January 11, 2008 at 7:06 am |
Hello Dr. Ghalib and the group- The blog is a great idea-
It came to my knowledge that salinomycin, an ionophore antibiotic, was to blame for the death of camels in Saudi Arabia. “Ionophore antibiotics are used in farming for the prevention of coccidiodomycosis in poultry and to alter gut flora in order to improve nutrient absorption in ruminants. However, this class of antibiotics affects both animal and bacterial cell physiology. Their mechanism of action at the cellular level is to selectively bind certain ions creating intra- and extracellular biochemical disturbances. The ions bound vary with different members of this class of drug, with salinomycin preferentially binding potassium. This interferes with potassium transport across mitchondrial membranes, resulting in low intracellular energy production”. The same antibiotic caused the death of many camels in Dubai some time ago. Another member of the group, Monensin, was also suspected to cause some camel deaths in Abu Dhabi several years back. The identification and quantitation of ionophore antibiotics in feed and biological matrices is relatively easy with LC-MS-MS.
Dr. Ibrahim Wasfi
January 29, 2008 at 3:13 pm |
It is hard to believe that such strong animals can die from ………..
Camel racing give the animals needed exercises and should not even be considered.
I think it is similar to the recent Croc. Death in India. It is just speculation.
More clinical test has to be done.
M. Reda
Consultant
February 28, 2008 at 8:24 pm |
I congratulate ISOCARD for creating such blog and iam sorry for late , ibelive all that happend becuse the bad mangment and may by ther somone in this matter {It is just speculation}