A survey of the incidence of salmonella and coliform enteritis in cattle in Kabete area of Kiambu District of Kenya (1977-82).

Abstract

An investigation was carried out to determine the incidence of bacterial enteritis in cattle over a six-year period, at the Large Animal Clinic of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Kabete. A total of 1055 cattle presented acute clinical enteritis from January 1977 to December 1982. Bacterial isolation, identification and bacterial drug sensitivity of isolates were carried out in 816 of these acute enteritis cases. Haemolytic Escherichia coli was confirmed, the causative agent in 319 (41.6%) of the acute cases. Salmonella spp., Proteus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. accounted for 174 (21.3%), 138 (16.9%) and 123 (15.1%) cases, respectively, while the remaining 42 (5.1%) cases were associated with other pathogenic bacteria. Streptomycin, chloramphenicol, neomycin and furacin were the antibiotics of choice for acute enteritis, while many of the bacterial isolates showed variable resistance to penicillin, tetracyclines and sulfonamides.