Gashaw Enbiyale, Andinet Yirga, Abebe Tesfaye, Ayalew Negash, Endris Aman, Demeke Debalike
This seminar paper reviews on heart water in domestic animals with respect to itsepidemiology, treatment, prevention and control. Heart water or cowdriosis is and peracute, acute, and subacute, non contagious and tick borne rickettsia disease of ruminants caused by Rickettsiaruminantiumand transmitted by Amblyomma ticks. It occurs in nearly all subSaharan countries of Africa and affects domestic and wild ruminant species. The organism multiplies in vascular endothelial cells throughout the body and in the reticulum cells of the lymph nodes. The disease is characterized by fever, nervous signs, hydro-pericardium, hydrothorax, ascites, edema of the lungs, and high mortality. The diagnosis of the heart water depends on the history, clinical sign, and epidemiological and postmortem examination. Tetracycline antibiotics (especially oxytetracycline) are very effective in the treatment of heart water especially when animals are treated early in the course of the disease. However, in the later stage of the diseases the treatment is not effective so that prevention and tick control is the best way of diseases eradication. This tick borne illness is highly economical significant due to their higher morbidity and mortality as a result of lack of awareness and information about epidemiology, prevention and control of the diseases. Therefore, the veterinarians consider the development of all aspects of heart water research, including vector ecology and control, epidemiology and socioeconomics, as well as vaccine development.
PDF
