Toxocariasis in buffalo calves: A case study on clinical findings and successful therapeutic intervention

Introduction

Toxocariasis is a common cause of calf-hood mortality in India (Radiostits et al., 2000) [7] . It is caused by Toxocara vitulorum which occurs in the small intestine of Indian buffaloe calves below three months of age, especially in tropical and subtropical countries (Raza et al., 2013) [11] . Many researchers reported that the livestock owners do not deworm their calves timely due to which the health of the calves remains poor in the small holder buffalo production system (Singh and Singh., 2000 and Das, 2001) [13,3] . As the calves are the future productive units of the dairy sector, the survival of calves is imperative for livestock propagation. Buffalo calves can become infected through the transmammary and transplacental routes as well as orally via consumption of larvated eggs from the environment. Toxocara vitulorum is amongst the most destructive parasites of young calves, the larvae of which undergo migration causing great damage to several organs, especially to the liver and the intestine and is frequently manifested by diarrhea, poor performance and poor growth rate (Ahmed et al., 2016) [1] . Adults become infected upon ingestion of larvated egg from the environment and after subsequent hatching the larva penetrates the intestine and remains as a hypobiotic larva in somatic musculature (Warren, 1971) [17] . Subsequently, the larva becomes activated around parturition and migrates to udder tissue. The young one acquires the infection through the lactogenic route, and the adult worm resides in the small intestine without undergoing any somatic migration. Toxocariasis is characterized by unthriftiness, pot-bellied abdomen, dull body coat, anaemia, restlessness, weight loss, stunted growth, sub-normal body temperature, constipation, dehydration followed by diarrhea with presence of mud coloured foul smelling faeces and death of calves due to intestinal obstruction (Soulsby, 1982, Bharkad, 1997 and Singh et al., 2008) [15,2,14] . Toxocariasis also causes significant alteration in the haemato-biochemical status of the affected calves which leads to poor growth of the calves (Ghanem et al., 2012) [5] . For treatment of toxocariasis, a wide variety of anthelmintics were available. However in the present study, piperazine was administered towards the infection of Toxocara vitulorum in diarrhoeic buffalo calves. Piperazine is a cyclic secondary amine anthelmintic compound that is frequently used in veterinary practice since it is active against ascarids (Maurya et al., 2020) [6] and is commercially available in a variety of salts including citrate, adipate, phosphate, hexahydrate, chloride, sulphate etc. The present case study describes the clinical presentation and therapeutic outcome in buffalo calves diagnosed with ascariasis.

Materials and Methods

In the present study, a total of 35 buffalo calves below three months age group were presented to the large animal medicine ward of Department of Veterinary Clinical Complex at College of Veterinary Science, Proddatur with clinical signs of foul smelling tarry coloured diarrhea, colic, poor body condition and dehydration since for 5 days with no history of deworming. All diarrhoeic calves were subjected to routine clinical examination. Fecal samples were processed for direct microscopic smear method examination by following standard protocols (Soulsby, 1982) [15] . The buffalo calves which were found positive for toxocariasis were included in the current study and treatment was initiated with a single-dose oral administration of Piperazine @300 mg/kg body weight. Dehydration was addressed with Dextrose normal saline and Ringers lactate followed by supportive therapy IM injection of B complex preparations.

Results and Discussion

In the present study, direct microscopic examination revealed the presence of 3-6 Toxocara vitulorum eggs per field (Fig. 1a & 1b) with sub-spherical, rough shelled and finely pitted albuminous layer in ten diarrhoeic buffalo calves, similar to the findings of Raut et al., 2016 [10] and Maurya et al., 2020 [6] . As already stated, the hypobiotic larva becomes activated at the time of parturition and migrates into the mammary gland and young one acquires the infection through lactogenic route (Starke-Buzetti, 2006) [16] . Larvae of Toxocara vitulorum may be present in colostrum 2-5 days after calving, and a few may be present after the 9 th day (Roberts, 1989) [12] . Upon clinical examination, mucoid to mucopurulent ocular discharges (Fig. 2a), pot bellied abdomen, lustreless hair coat (Fig. 2b), diarrhoea with presence of foul smell, tarry colored feces (Fig. 3a &3b) with blood tinged to mucoid in consistency, colic and anorexia (Raut et al., 2016) [10] were noticed. As a result of diarrhea, dehydration was noticed in some affected diarrhoeic calves indicated by moderate to severe sunken eye balls (Fig. 4a) and decreased skin elasticity (Fig. 4b) These findings were consistent with those reported earlier by Maurya et al., 2020 [6] and Ghanem et al., 2012 [5] . The affected buffalo calves also showed signs of depression and muscular weakness due to hypoglycemia (Radiostits et al., 2007). In the present study, buffalo calves were treated with a single oral administration of piperazine as an anthelmintic agent which showed good efficacy by subsiding diarrhoea and significant reduction of Toxocara vitulorum egg numbers upon direct fecal smear examination after 21days post treatment. These results were in agreement with previous studies of Rao et al., 2000 [9] , Das et al., 2018 [4] and Maurya et al., 2020 [6] . Simultaneously, dehydration in diarrhoeic buffalo calves was addressed with fluid therapy with Dextrose Normal Saline and Ringers Lactate @10 ml/kg body weight intravenously for a period of three days resulting in subsidence of dehydration and weakness. These observations were in agreement with previous studies of Das et al., 2018 [4] and Maurya et al., 2020 [6] . Besides these, supportive therapy which included 2 ml of B-Complex Preparation (Inj. Tribivet) intramuscularly and oral electrolyte preparations were recommended.

Conclusion

The present study revealed a brief observation on diarrhoeic buffalo calves infected with Toxocara vitulorum from lactogenic route and consumption of larvated eggs from the environment. Routine faecal sample examination and deworming should be done for the buffalo calves to avoid the infestation. It can be recommended that piperazine @300 mg/Kg body weight orally for a single dose along with supportive drugs is a suitable regimen for treatment of Toxocara vitulorum infection in calves and thereby preventing calf mortality, diarrhoea and other complications in field conditions.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementsWe thank the authorities of Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and the College of Veterinary Science, Proddatur for the facilities provided in conducting this study.

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