Degnala Disease in Buffalo

A female buffalo of 8-year-old age from Phulbari-3, Chitwan, Nepal was reported to have alopecia and sloughing of tail. According to the farmer the animal had gradually lost its appetite for several days back and similar was the body condition. On clinical examination, we found 102^° F temperature, alopecia and sloughing of tail, alopecia around the ear, gangrenous lesion on foot and swelling on the ventral region especially on brisket and legs. During the same time, the outbreak of Degnala disease was reported from different parts of the country as well as from Chitwan district. So we suspected the disease Degnala. We asked the farmer about the type of feed offered and found that the animal was fed with straw primarily for more than two months. Questions to the farmers revealed that the straw was soaked in rain during harvesting and on observation we found mould smelling. We also took skin scrapping for culture. The culture of skin scrapping in Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) Media showed growth of Penicillium species. Therefore, based the history of mould smelling straw, the clinical signs like alopecia and gangrenous lesions on tail and foot and the presence of Penicillium fungus on culture the disease was diagnosed as Degnala disease.

 We did antiseptic washing of wounds with 5% CUSO₄ till the culture result. After confirming the disease as degnala, the animal was treated with antidegnala liquor (Zinc sulphate) @ 7 ml OD for 7 days; Long acting Oxytetracycline @ 1ml/kg bwt IM which was repeated after 72 hours and Brotone liquid @ 40 ml OD orally for 5 days. From the first day we visited the animal, the owner was advised to stop feeding mould smelling straw to the sick animal and others and to prevent contamination of lesion of animal to dust and dirt.

The animal recovered after 15 days of treatment. The body wounds healed and animal started normal feeding. 

Degnala is a disease of cattle and buffaloes characterized by general malaise, edema of the extremities, general wasting with necrosis and sloughing of the epidermis. The condition is usually a febrile and limits the movements of the affected animals due to painful condition of the legs (Shirlow, 1939 & Irfan, 1971).This disease got its name because cases in buffaloes were first seen in the Deg nala (small river) area of Pakistan in 1929-30 (Shirlow, 1939). It has seasonal incidence and sporadic cases mainly seen in winter months when paddy straw is used as fodder (Ifran, 1971). 

Degnala disease was first reported in Nepal by Karki in 1986 from Banke district. Since then it has been reported from different districts of Nepal. Incidence is more common in lowland areas. In 1997, Fusarium spp was isolated from the farms in foothills of Nepal by Irfan and Maqbool. Last year large numbers of cases were reported from different parts of Nepal including Chitwan district. Degnala disease has appeared as an epidemic in South Asian countries including Nepal. The basic reason behind this is that rice straw was affected during harvesting due to continuous rainfall during the month of November and December. The paddy plants were submerged in the field during harvesting and farmers stored the straw without adequate drying. 

Degnala is caused by mycotoxin produced by different species of fungi namely Fusarium spp, Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp. etc. An attempt was made to isolate the fungus and its toxin from paddy straw by Commomwealth Mycology Laboratory, UK, which led to the identification of Fusarium spp.(Dhillon,1973). 

The disease is transmitted by ingestion of fungus infested rice and wheat straw. The toxin is released in the intestine and reaches to liver via portal circulation causing liver damage. Through circulation, the toxin is distributed to peripheral tissues where it causes vasoconstriction due to collagen and elastin dissolution leading to the development of skin lesions (Irfan et al., 1984). 

The major clinical signs are anorexia, edematous swelling of the dependent parts, gangrenous ulceration of tail, ear tip and muzzle, eruption and crackling of skin, sloughing of tissues from the affected parts, alopecia of various parts, drying of skin and reluctant to move. In the later stage, there is hypothermia, emaciation, recumbency and death. 

The diagnosis can be made from history and clinical signs like feeding of mouldy straw for longer period of time, gangrenous lesion, sloughing of skin layer of extremities like ear, tail, leg, etc. Hematology will show neutrophilia, hypoalbuminemia and hypoglobulinemia that help in diagnosis. There is marked increase in total WBC count, and decrease in RBC count as well as PCV and Hb during clinical phase of the disease (Karki et al., 2012). The Post mortem findings includes hardened and thickened blood vessels, excessive straw colored fluid in subcutaneous tissue and heart and gangrenous skin lesions. Similarly fungal can be done in SDA media. The culture shows the growth of fungal hyphae. Skin scrapping and rice straw can be taken as sample for culture. 

The disease should be differentiated from Ergot poisoining, Chronic Selenium toxicity, Foot rot and Mange. 

The fungus infested straw should not be fed as far as possible. Adequate supplementation of green fodder and tree fodder should be done. The infected animal should be treated with sodium hydroxide @ 1% for 20kg straw. If available, pentasulphate @ 60 gm on first day and then @30 gm for next 15 days should be used.  Similarly antidegnala liquid @ 10ml orally for 10 days can be used as effective treatment. Mineral mixture and lactoline should be given along with straw. Oxytetracycline LA @ 1ml/ 10 Kg BW is also used for secondary bacterial infection. Acetylarsan, Ivermectin, Teeburb, Livertonics and Multivitamins should be given. Antiseptic dressing of wounds should be done until healing. 

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