Page117 Antibiogram of Dermatophilus congolensis Isolates from Cattle Tresamol P. V. 1 and Saseendranath, M. R. 2 Dept. of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine,College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Pookode, Wayanad, Kerala Rec.Date: Jan 31, 2013 04:58; Accept Date: May 02, 2013 09:01 Abstract Bovine dermatophilosis has been identified as etiological agent of lower leg dermatitis among cattle in Kerala. Present work was undertaken to study the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of Dermatophilus congolensis isolates from cattle in Kerala. A total of 75 isolates of D. congolensis obtained during 2010-2011 were subjected to antibiogram studies using Muller-Hinton sheep blood agar. Out of 75 isolates, 74 isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin (98.7 per cent) and enrofloxacin (98.7 per cent) followed by gentamicin (97.3 per cent), tetracycline (94.7 per cent), ceftriaxone (84 per cent) and streptomycin (81.3 per cent). Seventy six percent of the isolates were found to be sensitive to chloramphenicol and 73.3 per cent to ampicillin, amoxycillin and amoxyclav. Only 53 isolates were sensitive to co-trimoxazole (70.7 per cent) and 31 isolates (41.3 per cent) to Penicillin. Present study provided useful informations regarding the in vitro antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates which in turn will help in selection of the most suitable antibiotics for the treatment. Key words: Cattle, Dermatitis, Dermatophilus congolensis, antibiogram Introduction Bovine dermatophilosis is an economically important skin disease of cattle in tropical countries. It causes considerable economic loss as a result of lowered production, increased culling, downgrading of hide and death (Zaria, 1993). There is no single treatment specific for dermatophilosis. But antibiotic treatment is the one which is most widely used and effective for cure from the clinical signs and to reduce the complications due to secondary infections. Several antibiotics were found to be effective with variable levels of success. Antibiotic sensitivity also varies with the isolate, geographical area and species of the affected animals. Recently dermatophilosis was diagnosed among cattle population of Kerala as the cause of lower leg dermatitis (Tresamol, 2012). The present study describes the in vitro antibiotic susceptibility pattern of 75 isolates of Dermatophilus congolensis from cattle of Kerala. Materials and Methods Eighty two cattle from different districts of Kerala, with clinical signs such as pustules, scab formation and cracks or fissures on the skin of legs were included in the study. Dermatophilosis was diagnosed in these animals based on direct microscopic examination of the skin scabs (Quinn et al., 1994) which revealed typical tram track appearance of the Dermatophilus congolensis by Giemsa and Gram staining
Page118 methods. Cultural isolation of the organism was done from the skin swabs and scabs in seven per cent sheep blood agar under 10 percent carbon dioxide (Haalstra, 1965). Dermatophilus congolensis was isolated from 75 cases. The isolates were identified based on morphological, cultural, biochemical and sugar fermentation tests as per the methods described by Cowan (1974). In vitro antibiotic sensitivity of the isolates was studied using disc diffusion technique (Barry, 1976) in Muller-Hinton sheep blood agar using 12 commonly used antibiotics (Table). Results and Discussions Results of antibiogram of 75 isolates of D. congolensis are depicted in Table and Figure. Sensitivity of D. congolensis isolates to most of these antibiotics was also reported by many workers (Gillum et al., 1988; Towersey et al., 1993). Jordon and Venning,(1995) also observed many antibiotics including erythromycin, spiramycin, penicillin G, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, amoxycillin, tetracyclines, and novobiocin to be highly effective in the treatment of dermatophilosis. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC) of antimicrobials on D. congolensis isolates determined by Hermoso de Mendoza et al (1995) revealed that erythromycin, spiramycin, penicillin G, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, amoxycillin, tetracyclines and novobiocin had high serum concentrations and were shown to have potential use for the treatment of dermatophilosis. The most sensitive antibiotics found in the present study were ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin. Out of 75 isolates, 74 isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin (98.7 per cent) and enrofloxacin (98.7 per cent) and only one was resistant both to enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin. This finding is contradictory to the findings of most of the workers, who reported resistance of D.congolensis to quinolones. Mannan et al (2009) found that only 10 percent of the isolates from Bangladesh were sensitive to ciprofloxacin and Kruger et al (1998) found resistance of few isolates of D. congolensis to enrofloxacin. Amor et al (2011) found antibiotic resistance to quinolones for an isolate from a human case. In the present study more than 80 percent of the isolates were found to be sensitive to gentamicin (97.3 per cent), tetracycline (94.7 per cent), ceftriaxone (84 per cent) and streptomycin (81.3 per cent). Seventy six percent of the isolates were found to be sensitive to chloramphenicol and 73.3 per cent to ampicillin, amoxycillin and amoxyclav. Only 53 isolates were sensitive to co-trimoxazole (70.7 per cent) and 31 isolates (41.3 per cent) to Penicillin. Sharma et al (1992) reported resistance of isolates from cattle and buffaloes to chloramphenicol and amoxycillin. Resistance of D. congolensis isolates to co-trimoxazole was also reported by Kruger et al (1998).Even though most of the workers reported susceptibility of
Page119 Sensitive isolates(%) D.congolensis to penicillin, in the present study maximum antibiotic resistance was observed for penicillin. This high rate of resistance might be due to extensive usage of this drug in cattle of this region. Table 1: Antibiogram of 75 isolates of Dermatophilus congolensis Sl.No. Antibiotic Sensitive(per cent) No.of isolates Resistant(per cent) 1 Penicillin 31 (41.3) 44 (58.7) 2 Streptomycin 61 (81.3) 14 (18.7) 3 Ampicillin 55 (73.3) 20 (26.7) 4 Amoxicillin 55 (73.3) 20 (26.7) 5 Amoxyclav 55 (73.3) 20 (26.7) 6 Ceftriaxone 63 (84.0) 12 (16.0) 7 Chloramphenicol 57 (76.0) 18 (24.0) 8 Ciprofloxacin 74 (98.7) 1 (1.3) 9 Enrofloxacin 74 (98.7) 1 (1.3) 10 Tetracycline 71 (94.7) 4 (5.3) 11 Gentamycin 73 (97.3) 2 (2.7) 12. Cotrimaxazole 53 (70.7) 22 (29.3) Fig. Antibiogram of 75 isolates of Dermatophilus congolensis 100 50 0 Antibiotics
Page120 Considerable variations were observed in the antibiogram pattern of D.congolensis isolates from Kerala compared to other regions. The variations in antibiotic sensitivity and resistance patterns of different isolates may be due to genomic variations, chromosomal or plasmid mutation of the organisms and repeated use of antibiotics as suggested by Mannan et al (2009). The results of the present study will help in the selection of suitable antibiotics for the successful treatment of cases of dermatophilosis. This study also stresses the need for identification of the most suitable antibiotic by conducting antibiogram studies for successful treatment of dermatitis due to D. congolensis. References Amor A, Enriquenz A, Corcuera MT, Toro C, Herroro D and Baquero M. 2011. Is infection by Dermatophilus congolensis underdiagnosed? Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Vol 49: 449-451. Barry AL. 1976. The Antimicrobial Sensitivity Test Principles and Practices. Lea and Febiger. Philadelphia. 210p. Cowan ST. 1974. Cowan and Steel s manual for identification of Medical Bacteria. Second edition Cambridge university press, New York. 416p. Gillum R.L, Qadri SMH, Al-Ahdal MN, Connor DH and Strano AJ. 1988. Pitted Keratolysis: A manifestation of human dermatophilosis. Dermatologica. Vol 177 (5): 305-308. Haalstra RT 1965. Isolation of Dermatophilus congolensis from skin lesions in the diagnosis of streptothricosis. Veterinary Record Vol. 77: 824-834 Hermoso-de- Mendoza J, Arenas A, Rey J, Alonso JM, Gil M C, Naranjo G and Hermoso-de-Mendoza M. 1995. In vitro studies of Dermatophilus congolensis antimicrobial susceptibility by determining minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations. British Veterinary Journal, Vol 150 (2): 189-196 Jordon D and Venning CM. 1995. Treatment of ovine dermatophilus with long acting oxytetracycline or a lincomycin-spectinomycin combination. Australian Veterinary Journal. Vol 72(6): 234-236 Kruger B, Siesenop U and Bohm KH. 1998. Phenotypical characterization of equine Dermatophilus congolensis field isolates. Berl Munch Tierarztl Wochenschr. Vol 111: 374-378 Mannan MA, Khan MSR, Rahman MM, Begum F and Uddin MZ. 2009. Isolation and identification of dermatophilus bacteria from the skin lesions of cattle. Bangladesh Journal of Veterinary Medicine.Vol 7(2): 342-347 Quinn PJ, Carter ME, Markey BK. and Carter GR. 1994. Clinical Veterinary Microbiology. Wolfe Publishing.USA. 648p Sharma DR, Kwatra MS, Saini SS, Dhillon SS, Gill BS and Singh J. 1992. Epidemiological studies on dermatophilosis outbreaks in Punjab. Indian Journal of Comparative Microbiology Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Vol 13: 5-9. Towersey L, decastro Soares Martins E, Londero AT, Hay RJ, Soares Filho PJ, Takiya CM, Martins CC and Gompertz OF. 1993. Dermatophilus congolensis human infection. Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, Vol 29: 351-354
Page121 Tresamol PV. 2012. Studies on pododermatitis in cattle. PhD Thesis. Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Thrissur. 203p Zaria LT. 1993. Dermatophilus congolensis infection (dermatophilosis) in animals and man. An update. Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Vol 16(3): 179-222