Necrobacillosis is an infectious disease, characterized mainly by purulent-necrotic lesions of the lower parts of the limbs, skin, mucous membranes and internal organs. All species of domestic and many species of wild animals are susceptible to this disease. However, in recent decades, the frequency of interdigital necrobacillosis has increased tremendously. For the past years, the incidence of cattle with necrobacillosis has reached one of the first places in the structure of infectious pathology. Despite the abundance of various veterinary drugs, necrobacillosis in cattle still remains an acute problem for many farms. The disease rarely leads to death, but causes significant economic damage to animal husbandry, including loss of production (reduction of milk yield in cows - up to 400 kg per lactation, decrease of BWG - up to 200 g/day), and early culling of animals (depending on the severity of diseases as a result of progressive exhaustion). Economic losses from necrobacillosis can reach up to 3 thousand rubles per calf due to reduction of breeding value and increase in feed costs. Usually, animal vaccination is used as the main control measure for cattle necrobacillosis in farms. But vaccination alone does not always ensure successful prevention and elimination of the disease. Unfortunately, currently there are no highly effective vaccines that could ensure 100% protection of animals. This is due to the peculiarities of the pathogen’s biology, pathogenesis and immunogenesis of the disease.
The vaccine is not a panacea against factorial diseases caused by weakly immunogenic pathogens, such as necrobacillosis. Also, recently, farms began to report mixed infections of necrobacillosis with other diseases, in particular with pasteurellosis, IRT, PI-3, in which necrobacillosis progression occurs against the background of a weakening of resistance, secondary immunodeficiencies, and caused by epitheliotropic viruses. The increased exploitation of highly productive dairy cows in farms and the decrease in disease resistance associated with the imbalance of protein-vitamin and mineral metabolism against this background also have an adverse effect. The presence of secondary immunodeficiency associated with cattle necrobacillosis, as well as the low efficiency of vaccination and traditional methods of antibacterial therapy highlight the need for immunotherapy in treatment of this disease. In connection with the above, it was decided to administer Dorynum in order to check its effectiveness in treatment of cattle necrobacillosis. A study of Dorynum’s effectiveness in the treatment of cattle necrobacillosis was carried out in several livestock farms. All animals were administered Dorynum at a dose of 7 mg/kg. The drug was used in monotherapy mode. The results are shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3.
Effectiveness of Dorynum in the treatment of cattle necrobacillosis in APC "Yartsevo”, Kursk region. Table 1
Effectiveness of Dorynum in the treatment of cattle necrobacillosis in LLC "Agrofirma Agrika”, Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Table 2
Effectiveness of Dorynum in the treatment of cattle necrobacillosis in OJSC “8-e Marta", Kursk region. Table 3
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Disease severity
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Number of animals, in animal units
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Number of injections
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Interval between administrations, days
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Recovery period, days
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|
Critical condition
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5
|
3
|
5
|
15
|
|
Grave condition
|
19
|
2
|
5
|
10-20
|
|
Moderately grave condition
|
50
|
1
|
-
|
5
|
|
Disease severity
|
Number of animals, in animal units
|
Number of injections
|
Interval between administrations, days
|
Recovery period, days
|
|
Grave condition
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
10-15
|
|
Moderately grave condition
|
7
|
3
|
5
|
5-10
|
|
Disease severity
|
Number of animals, in animal units
|
Number of injections
|
Interval between administrations, days
|
Recovery period, days
|
|
Grave condition
|
5
|
3
|
3
|
10
|
It should be noted that all animals chosen for research previously were treated against necrobacillosis by generally accepted methods (injections of other antibacterial drugs, external treatments) with no positive result achieved. Based on the studies, the veterinarians of the farms that administered Dorynum came to the following conclusions:
1. Necrobacillosis disease caused by Bacterium necrophorum, a permanent resident of the rumen of ruminants, is directly related to a decrease in the activity of the immune system.
2. Recovery of animals occurs earlier if Dorynum is administered.
3. Dorynum activates the processes of tissue repair and regeneration and contributes to a faster recovery of the diseased limb function.
4. The antibiotic Dorynum has demonstrated its high effectiveness in the treatment of cattle necrobacillosis.
In existing epizootic situations in farms where cattle necrobacillosis occurs, the use of Dorynum in veterinary technology allows to reduce production losses and early culling of animals, as well as to increase production profitability.
Honored veterinarian of Russia, M. I. Stepanov
Dorynum in cattle necrobacillosis.