Pathology of experimental Clostridium perfringens type D entero-toxaemia in goats

Experimental study using characterized Clostridium perfringens type D isolates (CIRG-14018) was undertaken to study the pathology of C. perfringens type D enterotoxaemia in goats. Twelve healthy 3–6 months old Barbari goat kids were utilized in present study and they were initially inoculated with starch solution in abomasum, followed by intra-duodenal inoculation of whole culture and trypsin activated culture supernatant of C. perfringens type D in five animals each. Two control kids were inoculated with sterile Robertson's cooked meat media (RCMM). Blood samples were collected at 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours post-inoculation (HPI) for haematology. All four kids inoculated with whole culture and another four kids inoculated with trypsin activated culture supernatant developed diarrhoea and dyspnea shortly after inoculation. The most important necropsy findings included pulmonary oedema and congestion, mild enterocolitis, sub-capsular renal haemorrhages and exudation of clear straw coloured to sero-sanguineous fluid in abdominal and thoracic cavities. The inoculated C. perfringens type D in intestinal contents and tissue (ileum) was confirmed by culture and isolation in RCMM, clostridium supplemented brucella blood agar and egg yolk agar as well as by toxinotyping multiplex PCR. Immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of epsilon toxin in villi and crypt epithelial cells in ileum. Haematology showed anemia, leukocytosis and erythrocytopaenia, while urinalysis showed proteinuria and glycosuria in whole culture and culture supernatant treated kids. Chief histopathological lesions were comprised of mild to moderate necrotic enterocolitis, eosinophilic interstitial pulmonary oedema and severe coagulative necrosis in tubules with interstitial haemorrhages in kidney and perivascular and perineuronal oedema in brain. In present study, experimental enterotoxaemia was induced successfully in goats, although the pathological changes were of lesser intensity compared to the naturally occurring enterotoxaemia in goats.

How to cite this article: Kumar, R., Gururaj, K., Pawaiya, R.V.S., Mishra, A.K., Chaturvedi, V., Varshney, M., Andani, D., Jena, D., Sharma, A., Gangwar, N.K. and Singh, R. (2019). Pathology of experimental Clostridium perfringens type D enterotoxaemia in goatse. Indian J. Vet. Pathol., 43(2): 94–103.