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Int. J. Agric.Sc & Vet.Med. 2016 Manoj Kumar, 2016

ISSN 2320-3730 www.ijasvm.com

Vol. 4, No. 1, February 2016
© 2016 www.ijasvm.com. All Rights Reserved
Research Paper

THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF DEGNALA

DISEASE IN A BUFFALO CALF: A CASE REPORT
Manoj Kumar1*

*Corresponding Author: Manoj Kumar,  manojvet332@gmail.com

A female buffalo calf have typical sign of Degnala Disease was successfully treated with penta
sulphate of Copper, Zinc, Cobalt, Manganese and Iron along with other symptomatic treatment.
Animal was well respond to the treatment and complete recovered after 15th day of treatment.

Keywords: Degnala disease, Buffalo calf, PentaSulphate

INTRODUCTION 1971). The basic reason behind this is that rice

Degnala is a disease of cattle and buffaloes
characterized by general malaise, edema of the
extremities, general wasting with necrosis and
sloughing of the epidermis. The condition is
usually a febrile and limits the movements of
the affected animals due to painful condition of
the legs (Shirlow, 1939; and Irfan, 1971). This
disease got its name because cases in
buffaloes were first seen in the Degnala (small
river) area of Pakistan in year 1929-30 (Shirlow,
1939). Degnala is caused by mycotoxin
produced by different species of fungi namely
Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Penicillium
spp., etc., while according to Indian
researchers, it is due to excess ingestion of
toxic amount of selenium in rice straw grown on
selenium rich soil. It has seasonal incidence and
sporadic cases mainly seen in winter months
when paddy straw is used as fodder (Ifran,
1
Department of Animal Husbandry, Saharsa 852201, Bihar, India.
straw was affected during harvesting due to
continuous rainfall during the month of November
and December. The paddy plants were
submerged in the field during harvesting and
farmers stored the straw without adequate
drying.
HISTORY AND CLINICAL
OBSERVATION
A female buffalo calf of 1 and halfyears old age
was presented with the history of animal had
gradually lost its appetite for several days back
leads to debilitated body condition, dullness,
reduced feed intake, swelling of distal part of
legs andlameness. On clinical examination, we
found 102° F temperature, alopecia and
sloughing of the hoof, gangrenous swelling of
coronate and fetlock region of hind legs (Figures
1 and 2).

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6
Int. J. Agric.Sc & Vet.Med. 2016
Figure 1: Sloughing of Hooves of Hind Legs
Figure 2: Alopecia and Rough Hair Coat
TREATMENT AND
DISCUSION
The buffalo calf was treated with long acting
oxytetracycline @ 20 mg/kg bwtIM and repeated
after 72 hours, isofluperidone @5 ml and B-
complex with liver extract @5 ml sid IM for five
days, along with this oral feeding of penta salts of
copper, iron, cobalt, zinc and manganese @30
gm/day was given till recovery. Apart from this
wound was washed with potassium permagnate
solution and dressed with antiseptic ointment till
the complete recovery. Owner was advised to
stop feeding mould smelling straw to the sick
animal and others and to prevent contamination
of lesion of animal to dust and dirt. The animal
was well responded to the treatment and calf was
This article can be downloaded from http://www.ijasvm.com/currentissue.php
7
Manoj Kumar, 2016
uneventfully recovered after 15 days of treatment.
The body wounds healed and animal started
normal feeding. Kalra et al. (1997) suggested the
possibility of the involvement of mycotoxin in the
etiology of Dagnala disease, occurring among
buffalo and zebu cattle in certain rice growing area
of India. A similar finding was observed by Irfan
et al. (1984) that disease in winter months in
cattle and buffalo when fed with fungal infected
rice straw. Buffalo are more frequently affected
then cattle and younger animals appeared to be
more susceptible. Arora et al. (2012) reported
chronic selenium toxicity, as a cause of Degnala
disease in buffaloes. Arora et al. (2012) reported
that 80% of Degnala was cured by feeding
pentasulphate mixture.
REFERENCES
1. Arora S P, Prasad T and Chopra R C (2012),
“Selenomethionine in the Ateioloy of Degnala
Disease in Buffalo”, On Line Published on
January 21.
2. Ifran M (1971), “The Clinical Picture and
Pathology of Degnala Disease in Buffaloes”,
Vet. Rec., Vol. 88, pp. 422-424.
3. Irfan M, Maqbool A and Ashfaque M (1984),
“Importance of Moulds, Fungi and Mycotoxin
in Food and Feeds”, Pak. Vet. J., Vol. 4,
pp. 187-192.
4. Kalra D S, Bhatia K C, Gautam O P and
Chauhan H V (1997), “Fusariumequiseti
Associated Mycotoxins as Possible Cause
of Degnala Disease”, Annales de la Nutrition
et de L’alimentation, Vol. 31, pp. 745-752.
5. Shirlow J E (1939), “Deg Nala Disease of
Buffaloes: An Account of the Lesions and
Essential Pathology”, Indian Vet. Sci. Anim.
Husb., Vol. 9, pp. 853-864.