Molecular and histopathological confirmation of clinically diagnosed lumpy skin disease in cattle, Baghdad Province of Iraq

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to confirm the clinically diagnosed cattle with lumpy skin disease (LSD) at Baghdad Province/Iraq from October 2018 to March 2019. Materials and Methods: Molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and histopathology were applied for the detection of LSD among 71 infected cattle issued for slaughter. Results: Pre-slaughter clinical examination showed significant increases (p<0.05) in values of temperature (39.7±0.74°C), pulse (96.42±3.51), and respiratory (33.54±0.63) rates. Enlargement of lymph nodes (prescapular, supramammary, and prefemoral), lacrimation, mucopurulent nasal discharge, salivation, edema in limbs and head among severe infected cases, and marked fall in milk production was seen. An association of LSD to risk factors (age, gender, and areas) showed that there is significant elevation in prevalence of disease in >2-5 years (54.93%) rather than other age groups (>5 and <2 years) in females (73.24%) than males (26.76%); and in sub-rural (42.25%) and rural (39.44%) compared to urban (18.31%) areas. Postmortem examination appeared nodular lesions in upper parts of the digestive system (9.86%), rumen (2.82%), upper respiratory tracts (7.04%), and lung (4.23%). The PCR examination of P32 and thymidine kinase antigenic genes showed 90.14% and 60.56% positive samples, respectively. Histopathological analysis of nodular skin biopsies showed edema, hyperemia, acanthosis, severe hydropic degeneration, and hyperkeratosis in epidermis; whereas, mononuclear cell infiltration, inclusion bodies, and vasculitis seen in the dermis. Conclusion: PCR and histopathology assay could be a potential method to confirm the LSD infection concomitant with clinical examination.

Diagnosis of naturally occurring lumpy skin disease virus infection in cattle using virological, molecular, and immunohistopathological assays

“…Those clinical signs were comparable with other previous descriptions [5,24,25]. Furthermore, the present work showed that the disease was most prevalent in the age group between 2 and 4 years, and this came in agreement with Gharban et al [26], who attributed the lowest infection attack among cattle less than 2 years because of passive maternal immunity that protects calves from LSDV infection.…”

“…The variation in the histological findings of LSD among infected cattle has also been described Available at www.veterinaryworld.org/Vol.14/August-2021/32.pdf by Tuppurainen et al [21]. Similar results to our findings were previously observed by Gharban et al [26], who reported that replication of the virus is accompanied by the formation of intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in skin lesions of infected cattle. Furthermore, Prozesky and Bernard [31] concluded that vasculitis and thrombosis leading to edema and necrosis.…”

Molecular and histopathological detection of lumpy skin disease in Buffaloes, Iraq

“…Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an acute to chronic bovine viral disease caused by LSD virus (LSDV) that classified under Capripox genus of Poxviridae family (Gharban et al, 2019). Initially, the disease that first reported in 1929 in Zambia is suspected to be resulted by either poisoning or hypersensitivity to an insect bite, until the infectious nature was recognized in 1943 (Koirala et al, 2022).…”

“…However, prevention of infection and protection of susceptible animals can be made by vaccination; whereas, supportive treatment for infected ones can effectively reduce the effects of disease (Babiuk, 2018;Zhugunissov et al, 2020). At the field, presumptive diagnosis depends mainly on the typical clinical signs and postmortem examination; whereas, at the laboratory, a combination of histopathological findings with the confirmatory techniques such as electron microscopy, serology, and molecular assays, and viral isolation can provide a definitive detection for LSDV (Abdallah et al, 2018;Gharban et al, 2019;Flannery et al, 2021). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of the most useful molecular tests which applied routinely to identify and confirm Capripoxvirus with high sensitivity and specificity (Sudhakar et al, 2020).…”

“…In Iraq, several outbreaks have been reported in bovine animals at many provinces throughout the past 10 years; however, all carried out studies were directed toward reporting and confirmation of LSD in cattle (Jarullah, 2015;Jameel, 2016;Mhemid, 2016;Mansour, 2017;Gharban et al, 2019;Alhakima et al, 2020). Hence, this study was designed to confirm of LSD infection in buffaloes using the molecular assay and histopathology for first time in Iraq.…”