Introduction: Camels migrate between the open boundaries of Sudan and Egypt
either for grazing or for slaughtering. Bad hygiene and stress is often
related to pulmonary diseases in camels. This study investigated whether
camels slaughtered in Cairo carried pulmonary infections. Methodology: Five
hundred lung tissues of slaughtered camels were examined and 100 samples
suspected for pulmonary infection were subjected to microbial identification
and histopathology. Results: A total of 70 lung tissues revealed 97 bacterial
isolates of 8 species, including Staphylococcus aureus (37.14%), Escherichia
coli (27.14%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (26.71%), Bacillus spp. (25.72%),
Streptococcus pyogenes (10%), Corynebacterium spp. (8.85 %), Pasteurella spp.
(2.85%), and Arcanobacterium pyogenes (1.4%). Some of these species were
earlier reported to be associated with pulmonary infection. Histopathology
revealed different types of pneumonia in 50% of the investigated lungs.
Conclusions: A considerable number of apparently healthy camels carry
pathogenic agents in their lower respiratory tracts. Immunosuppression and
stressful conditions might influence these pathogens to induce respiratory
diseases in camels. Thus, the infected camels might act as reservoir of these
infections agents. If adequate care is not taken, this might be a threat to
abattoir workers and may spread infections to humans