Molecular characterization of some pathogenic bacterial strains and hematobiochemical profile in Barki sheep with diarrhea in Siwa Oasis

Objective: To explore the incidence of several bacterial enteropathogens in Barki sheep with diarrhea and their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends and their hematobiochemical alteration in Siwa Oasis.
Design: Descriptive study.
Animals: A total of 500 adult Barki sheep were allocated into two equal-sized groups: 250 Barki ewes with diarrhea and 250 normal sheep taken as the control group. 250 faecal samples were taken from sheep with diarrhea. The bacterial enteropathogens were extracted, identified biochemically and determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The Kirby-Bauer Disk-Diffusion Method was used to determine the sensitivity of positive samples from each organism to ten antimicrobials.  Blood samples were collected from every animal for hematological and biochemical evaluation.
Results: Escherichia coli were the most prevalent agent (80%), followed by Campylobacter species, C. perfringens, Salmonella species, and Y. enterocolitica (68%, 40%, 30%, and 20%, respectively). The diarrheic sheep showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase of body temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, total leucocyte count, TEC (RBCs), Hb and PCV, neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte count as compared with control ones. In addition, the diarrheic sheep showed a significant (P < 0.05) reduction of serum values of glucose, total protein, Na, Cl, Ca and SOD with significant increase in the serum levels of K, creatinine, urea nitrogen, MDA and activities of AST and ALT as compared with control ewes.
Conclusion and clinical relevance: This study is helpful because it shows the most bacteria implicated in diarrheic enteropathogens that affect sheep with fast and accurate diagnosis. This information can be used to come up with ways to stop these infections.