Gross and microscopic pulmonary lesions of camels from Eastern Ethiopia

Camels are important animals for pastoralists in the northeastern, eastern, southeastern and southern parts of Ethiopia. This paper reports on abattoir study of respiratory lesions in 104 adult camels at the Dire Dawa abattoir (88 male and 16 female). The study showed 98% of the examined lungs had one or more lesions. The most common lesions were pulmonary fibrosis (50.00%), pneumoconiosis (34.62%), hydatid cyst (30.80%), pulmonary abscess (3.85%) and parasitic bronchopneumonia (0.96%). The distribution of pneumoconiosis and hydatid cyst varied significantly (p<0.05) among different lobes, the highest being seen in the caudal lobe. For the different lesions there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in distribution among male and female camels. Possible explanations for the occurrence of the lesions are discussed. And recommendations forecasted are made. Southern Ethiopia (Bekele 1999). Camel respiratory problem has received little consideration, even though it is an emerging disease in Ethiopia causing considerable loss of production and deaths (Rufael 1996; Bekele 1999). This paper reports a study of pulmonary lesions of 104 adult camels (88 male and 16 female) of unknown age and health status brought for slaughter to the Dire Dawa abattoir.