1Department of General, Specialized and Operative Surgery, Saint Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine, Russia.
2Department of Internal Non-Contagious Diseases, Saint Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine, Russia.
3Veterinary Inspection of the Wilaya of Sétif, Algerian Republic.
4Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferhat Abbas, Sétif, Algeria.
*Corresponding Author: Sissaoui Mehdi, Department of General, Specialized and Operative Surgery, Saint Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine, Russia. Email: mahdi_setifis@hotmail.com.
Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn) and Selenium (Se) are three trace elements whose deficiency can predispose sheep to various diseases, foot rot being the most common. This study aimed to assesses the link between Cu, Zn and Se levels and foot rot in the Sétif region of Algeria and to establish a prophylactic and therapeutic scheme to correct deficiencies.
Conducted at the “the Khababa Abdelwahab” experimental farm (Setif, Algeria), the study involved tow experiments. Experiment 1 measured serum Cu, Zn and Se in 37 Ouled Djellal sheep (15 healthy, 12 stage 2, 10 stage 3) using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Experiment 2 evaluated Thespophor Oligo (oral Cu/Zn) and Sodiferol (injectable Se) in 15 stage 1 cases. Treatments were administrated over several days, repeated after 30 days and serum trace elements retested. Data were analyzed using t-tests, Bonferroni correction, repeated-measures ANOVA and Pearson correlation, with significance set at P<0.05 (adjusted to 0.0167 for multiple comparisons).
In foot rot-affected sheep, severity was associated with a marked selenium and zinc decrease and a pronounced copper increase especially at stage 3. Treatment corrected selenium deficiency but not zinc deficiency or copper excess. Hypercupremia appears linked to metabolic or inflammatory disturbances and mineral imbalance.
Copper, Foot rot, Selenium, Sheep, Zinc
