41 A necrobacillosis case determined in a sheep herd Emin KARAKURT 1 , Serpil DAĞ 1 , Özgür ÇELEBİ 2 , Hasan ÖZEN 3 , Fatih BÜYÜK 2 , Elif ÇELİK 2 , Hilmi NUHOĞLU 1 , Aliye GÜLMEZ SAĞLAM 2 ABSTRACT In this study, cases of necrobasillozis detected in a sheep herd in Kars province are described.A total of 12 dead animals were noted in 2-4 month-old sheep in a herd containing 210 animals. Three of dead animals were brought to Kafkas University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Department of Pathology for necropsying. Systemic necropsy was performed and tissue samples were collected for histopatho- logical and microbiological investigations. On gross examination, yellow-white multifocal necrotic are- as sizing up to 3 cm in liver of one animal, and up to 1 cm in lung of another animal were recognized. No gross lesions were detected in the third animal. In microscopic examination of these two animals in which lesions were detected, coagulation necrosis with central calcifcation and peripherally located crumbs of leukocyte nucleus were noted. In the animal with lung lesions, alveolar capillary hyperemia and mononuclear cells infltration including neutrophil leukocytes were also detected. In microbio- logical analysis, samples were inoculated onto specifc agars, incubated at aerobic, microaerobic and anaerobic conditions for 48 hours and fnally colonies grown on anaerobic environment in Eugon agar and blood agar were evaluated. In inoculations made from the 2 lungs and 1 liver samples that were collected from different animals, colonies that produce large hemolytic areas were viewed. In gram sta- ining, fusiform and gram (-) bacteria were named as Fusobacterium necrophorum. The results of the study indicate that necrobasillozis might be an important cause of death in lambs in Kars province. It was also concluded that death due to necrobasillozis might be seen in lambs with no apparent gross lesions. 1 Kafkas University, Veterinary Faculty, Department of Pathology, 36100 Kars/TURKEY 2 Kafkas University, Veterinary Faculty, Department of Microbiology, 36100 Kars/TURKEY 3 Balıkesir University, Veterinary Faculty, Department of Pathology, 10100 Balıkesir/TURKEY MAE Vet Fak Derg, 4 (1): 41-44, 2019 DOI: 10.24880/maeuvfd.532072 Bu makaleye atıfta bulunmak için/ To cite this article: Karakurt E, Dağ S, Çelebi Ö, Özen H, Büyük F, Çelik E, Nuhoğlu H, Gülmez Sağlam A. A necrobacillosis case determined in a sheep herd. MAE Vet Fak Derg. 2019; 4 (1) :41-44. Key Words: fusobacterium microbiology pathology sheep Received: 25.02.2019 Accepted: 11.06.2019 Published Online: 30.06.2019 Article Code: 532072 Correspondence: E. KARAKURT (mehmeteminkarakurt@hotmail.com) ORCID: E. KARAKURT: 0000-0003-2019-3690 S. DAĞ: 0000-0001-7667-689X Ö. ÇELEBİ: 0000-0002-3478-008X H. ÖZEN: 0000-0002-6820-2536 F. BÜYÜK: 0000-0003-3278-4834 E. ÇELİK: 0000-0003-4531-3863 H. NUHOĞLU: 0000-0003-2530-2542 A. GÜLMEZ SAĞLAM: 0000-0002-7639- 5075 INTRODUCTION Fusobacterium necrophorum is a Gram negative, non-spore for- ming, obligate anaerob pleomorphic microorganism in human and animal fora of the digestive tract (13, 15). There are two subtypes of agent called as F. necrophorum subsp. necrophorum (biovar A) and F. necrophorum subsp. funduliforme (biovar B) whi- ch are opportunistic pathogens of various animal species. F. necrophorum may be the primary disease agent in ruminants or as an important component of the mixed infections in those they form together with other pathogenic bacteria (1). Toxins such as leucotoxin, endotoxin, hemolysin, hemagglutinin and adhesin are thought to be closely related to the virulence of F. necrophorum (16, 21). Due to its high polysaccharide content and leukotoxin production ability, F. necrophorum subsp. necrop- horum subspecies is more pathogenic and commonly isolated from necrotic cases (18, 21). F. necrophorum causes rumenitis, liver abscess syndrome, interdigital necrobacillosis, calf dip- htheria (stomatitis, laryngitis and pharyngitis) and abortion in sheep (6, 22). All these diseases are generally called as nec- robacillosis (13, 20). Though anaerobic culture methods are used in the diagnosis of disease, these methods are inadequate. Therefore, the true incidence of F. necrophorum infections can- not be fully established (17). Thus, macroscopic lesions and histopathological fndings may contribute to the diagnosis of F. necrophorum. The aim of this study was to determine the necrobacillosis cases by histopathological and microbiological methods in a sheep herd in Kars province, Turkey. MATERIALS and METHODS The material of this study was consisted of 12 lambs of 2-4 months age, which died in about one week with respira- tory distress, observed in a herd consists of 210 sheep in April 2016 in Selim district, Kars. Unfortunately, only 3 of the dead animals could be reached without putrefaction and they were brought to the Department of Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, Kafkas University in order to make laboratory diagnoses. Sys- temic necropsies of the animals were done and histopatho- logical and microbiological studies were performed on infec- ted tissues, liver and lungs. In macroscopic examination, multifocal white necrotic are- as of 3 cm diameters in liver of one lamb and 1 cm diameter in lung of another lamb were observed (Figure 1a, 1b). No other fndings were found in the internal organs of the remaining lamb. Tissue samples were fxed with 10% buffered formaldehyde solution and following the routine tissue follow-up procedu- res and paraffn blocked. 5 microns thickness sections were Case Report