Salmonella enterica and Theileria co-infection in dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) in UAE

Despite a steady increase in camel husbandry worldwide, pathology of camel diseases is still relatively under-investigated. Clinical hematuria is generally indicative of either acute or chronic urogenital inflammations, traumatic calculous injuries, cancers, corrosive poisonings. Infectious agents are not typically implicated in urinary tract infection of camels.

This study aims to explore possible causes in camels clinically suffered from acute febrile disease with severe hematuria.

To achieve aims of the study culturing of urine samples, microscopic examination for detection of blood parasites, phenotypic and genotypic characterization for the identification of isolated bacteria were followed.

Conventional bacteriology enabled identification of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar typhimurium which further genotyped by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Microscopic examination of Giemsa stained blood smears from both infected dromedary camels revealed the presence of pleomorphic Theileria piroplasms. The results suggest that the clinical symptoms were as coinfection induced by salmonellosis and theileriosis.

Given these remarkable findings, further research should aim to better characterize the opportunistic pathogens associated with camel theileriosis, as well as to determine other possible infectious agents of the camel urinary tract.