Abstract
The response of paratuberculosis of camels (locally known as Silag) to treatment with rifampin and streptomycin was investigated. Ten camels were used in this experiment as follows: Seven clinically ill camels with severe weight loss and persistent diarrhoea, and presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in feces and rectal scrapings, were injected intramuscularly with a dose providing 5 mg/kg body weight of rifampin and a dose of 5 mg/kg body weight of streptomycin. Diarrhoea stopped and (MAP) disappeared from the feces and rectal scrapings of infected camels from the 5th to the 9th week of treatment. The 8th camel had clinical Silag and was kept as untreated positive control, and 9th camel was free from paratuberculosis and was kept as a negative control. The positive control camel continued shedding (MAP) in faeces until the end of the experiment. The non-infected camel (negative control) remained healthy and free from infection until the end of the experiment. The tenth camel had clinical paratuberculosis and was sacrificed to study the pathology of the disease. Postmortem examination showed that the intestinal wall was dispersed with granulomas and its mucous membrane was greatly thickened and corrugated. The mesenteric lymph nodes were granulomatous and abscessed. Granulomas were also seen in the hepatic and mediastinal lymph nodes. This is the first report on the effective treatment of paratuberculosis in camels.