Abstract

This study was conducted in Nyala, South Darfur State; samples were collected between August and November 2015 aiming at investigating the prevalence of Morel’s disease caused by Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius in sheep and goats at meat inspection in Nyala North abattoir. Out of 1050 slaughtered animals (441 sheep and 609 goats) 24 sheep (5.4%) and 25 goats (4.1%) had superficial lymph nodes abscesses, S. aureus subsp. anaerobius was isolated from 18 (72%), 14 (58.3%) of sheep and goats, respectively, giving prevalence rates of 4.1% in sheep and 2.3% in goats. Fisher’s test showed that there was no significant association between the prevalence of Morel’s disease between sheep and goats (p<0.05). The parotid (36%) and prescapular (20%) lymph nodes were more frequently affected by Morel’s disease in sheep and the prescapular (37.5%) and precrural (20.8%) in goats. The position of abscess was located close to the lymph node in goats and close to and/or within the lymph nodes in sheep. In one sheep, 3 abscesses were observed at the same time, and in one goat 2 abscesses were observed. The size of one abscess in sheep reached 12.5×14.5 cm. The resulting of this study revealed the high prevalence of Morel’s disease in sheep and goats and the great economic losses due to triming carcass and skin.

Keywords: Morel’s disease; Sheep; Goat; Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius; Sudan