Hemato-Biochemical studies on Egyptian Buffaloes and Calves naturally infected with Foot and Mouth Disease Virus serotype SAT 2

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease of all cloven footed domestic and wild animals. This work was planned to study the different markers for diagnosis of FMDV serotype Sat2 in adult buffaloes and calves including clinical, hematological and biochemical examinations. A total number of sixty animals were divided into four groups. The first group was apparently healthy adult buffaloes, while the second was naturally infected adult buffaloes, a third group was apparently healthy suckling calves and finally the fourth group was naturally infected suckling calves. The recorded clinical signs were fever, salivation, loss of appetite, depression, lameness, blisters or vesicles, erosions and ulcers in the mucosa of the mouth, tongue, lips, gums, pharynx, palate and between the claws. Anemia, leucopenia, lymphopenia and monocytopenia were recorded in infected adult buffaloes and calves. Myocardial injury proved by presence of degenerated myocardial fibers and lymphocyte cell infiltration with a significant increase in cardiac markers like cardiac torponin I, CPK and LDH in addition to a significant hyperkalemia, hypocalcaemia and hypomagnesemia in buffaloe calves. Moreover, electrophoresis showed hyoproteinemia, hypoalbuminemia and hypoglobulinemia in infected animals. It could be concluded that the elevation of cardiac markers emphasized that FMD is more severe in young calves than adult animals. Therefore, it is recommended to evaluate the prognosis of FMD infection in calves by these markers.