1. BlackLeg
{Also known as Black Quarter}
CLOSTRIDIUM CHAUVOEI

2. Primary host Primarily in Cattle Other animals affected include
The disease makes them useless as well as uneconomical for the farmers.
Major economic losses.
Other animals affected include
Sheep
Buffalo
Other ruminants.

3. Pathogen CLOSTRIDIUM specifically CLOSTRIDIUM CHAUVOEI Bacteria
This infection begins when the susceptible animal ingests endospores.
Cross the gastrointestinal tract and enter the bloodstream and are dispersed throughout the animal’s body.
Lie dormant until they become activated and trigger the disease.
Activated in an anaerobic environment. (area of low oxygen content such as bruised tissue).

4. Environmental/management Conditions
Black Leg infections typically occur during the late summer and early fall.
Usually affects rapidly growing calves (6months-2 years old).
Has affected calves as young as 2 months old, and occasionally losses are seen in adult cattle.
Soil borne disease.
High annual rainfall has been associated with increased outbreaks of the disease in ruminants.

5. LIFE CYCLE
This infection begins when the susceptible animal ingests endospores.
Cross the gastrointestinal tract and enter the bloodstream and are dispersed throughout the animal’s body.
Lie dormant until they become activated and trigger the disease.
Activated in an anaerobic environment. (area of low oxygen content such as bruised tissue).
Once stimulation occurs (transporting, handling, injection sites, rough/rigorous pasture activity), the spores germinate and multiply into the disease-causing bacteria.

6. Best controls (ipm) Chemical Biological
The outbreaks can be controlled by routine (annual) vaccination followed by booster shots after the initial injection.
Blackleg should be administered subcutaneously in the neck area.
Generally recommended to vaccinate calves between 2-3 months of age.
The most commonly used clostridial vaccination in cattle is a 7-type prevention vaccine. It gives your cattle full protection from 7 microbes including the one responsible for Blackleg.
If an outbreak of this disease occurs, the producer should contact his/her local veterinarian.
Further losses may occur for a two-week period until the animals develop ample immunity against the disease.
Biological
Burning the upper layer of soil to eliminate spores with oil or straw also works well.

7. My interest

8. Symptoms & Clinical Signs
Typically, animals infected with blackleg die rapidly without any signs of illness.
In clinical trials, some symptoms noticed very early in the disease are as follows
Lameness
Loss of appetite
Fever
Depression
Swelling
Post-Mortem
Lesions in dead animals associated with blackleg include swelling of the affected muscle tissue.
Legs, hips, chest, shoulder, back, or elsewhere
Swelling is due to fluid and gas accumulation, which is produced by the infectious bacteria.
When pressure is applied to the affected areas, gas can often be felt moving while producing a crackling sound under the skin.

12. Outbreaks of Blackleg of Cattle in Northern Nigeria
Experiment 1
Outbreaks of Blackleg of Cattle in Northern Nigeria

13. Experiment 1 Abstract/Introdution Methods/Materials
Blackleg is endemic in both developed and developing countires and is well known cause of financial loss to cattle raisers in many parts of the world.
In Nigeria, the losses of Zebu cattle alone to the disease have been estimated at US $4.3 million annually/
In this study, they present outbreaks of the disease for about 40 years and the possible ways of effecting efficient control of the disease in Nigeria.
A 40 year retrospective data on annual outbreaks of blackleg was collected from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources Archives at Kaduna and Abuja, Nigeria and the National Veterinary Research Institute Vom, Nigeria.
The data was recorded according to the numbers of outbreaks, number of cattle in herds infected, and mortality.

16. results
The results suggest that there are still pockets of annual outbreaks of blackleg of cattle in Northern Nigeria.
The control of blackleg in Nigeria has been difficult because of ineffective vaccination policy, lack of adequate logistics such as vehicles to carry out vaccination activities, lack of facilities to maintain the cold chain for vaccine storage and lack of disease reporting by the nomads.
The present study of the outbreaks of blackleg of cattle in Northern Nigeria is important because, in Africa, there is a migration of cattle between neighboring countries and a disease that is endemic in one country is a potential fanger to neighboring counties.

17. Experiment 2
Economic Losses due to High Incidence of Black Quarter Disease in Cattle and Buffaloes and it’s Treatment in District Dera Ismail Khan

18. Experiment 2 Abstrac/Introduction Methods/Materials
The present study was therefore planned to prepare a clear picture about the incidence and severity of black leg in Dera Ismail Khan District and to find out their relationship with other factors like beer availability of lccinical assistance management conditions and age etc.
The information obtained from this study will also be helpful to improve the economics of farmers and may open new avenues of research for the eradication and control of the disease.
An active surveillance was conducted to study the epidemiology and economic losses occurring due to black quarter disease in cattle and buffaloes in the year 2009.
The data was collected from 20 randomly selected villages from all three tehsils of D.I.Khan Districts.
The study was conducted for a period of one year from August 2008 to July 2009 and survey was completed in 3 months.
The questions were asked according to the following pattern from each farmer by separate mentioning of age and sex group of animal i.e young male, young female, adult male and adult female
The data was then compiled for each village area (irrigated and non-irrigated) and district respectively.

19. results
Treatment trials of oxytetracycline (Terramycine L.A Pfizer. 20 mg kg) and amoxicilline (Clamoxyl L.A., Beecham, 15 mg/kg) were also conducted during the study.
Crepitating sounds on pressing the swelling and death within hours treatment trials indicated that oxytetracycline and amoxicilline both proved 95% effective.

21. Works Cited
Powell, Jeremy, Ph. D. "Blackleg and Other Clostridial Diseases." University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture; Livestock Health Series. University of Arkansas, n.d. Web. 09 Nov
Nazir Zahid, Umar, et al. "Black Quarter In Crossbred Dairy Cattle- A Case Report." Veterinary World 5.12 (2012): Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov
Niamatullah, M. "Economic Losses Due To High Incidence Of Black Quarter Disease In Cattle And Buffaloes And Its Treatment In District Dera Ismail Khan." Pakistan Journal Of Science 63.2 (2011): Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov
Useh, Nicodemus Maashin, et al. "Outbreaks Of Blackleg Of Cattle In Northern Nigeria ( )." Slovenian Veterinary Research 47.2 (2010): Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov