Pathomorphological and Microbiological Diagnosis of Pneumonic Pasteurellosis in Goats of Assam, India

Background: Pneumonia is a major cause of economic losses in the global ruminant industry. Pasteurellosis, a bacterial infection, is a leading cause of pneumonia in sheep and goats. It is frequently reported in goats in Assam, India, causing significant economic losses for marginal farmers. There is a lack of scientific data on the incidence of pasteurellosis in goats in the northeast region of India. Methods: The present study was aimed to study the pneumonic infection due to Pasteurella species in goats in and around Guwahati. In the present study 139 animal carcasses were examined, among the samples collected from 62 pneumonic lungs, 21 came positive for Pasteurella species. The samples were screened based on gross, microscopic, bacteriological, and molecular assays. Result: The main clinical signs showed were respiratory distress, depression, anorexia, loss of body condition, high febrile state and lacrimation. Different types of pneumonia recorded based on pathological alterations were bronchopneumonia, interstitial pneumonia, sero-fibrinous pneumonia, haemorrhagic pneumonia and suppurative pneumonia. In microbiological assays, the infection of Pasteurella was established by greyish lustrous isolated colonies on BHI agar plate, and non-haemolytic colonies on sheep BA plate. The bipolar organisms were also confirmed from the colonies with help of Gram’s and methylene blue staining. Final confirmation was done by PCR based detection, revealing a total of 21 isolates were positive for the kmt1 gene of Pasteurella species isolate.