Epizootics of pasteurellosis in a semi-intensive breeding farm of indigenous rabbits in Senegal

Epizootic pasteurellosis appeared in a semi-intensive breeding farm (200 animals) of indigenous rabbits in Thiès (ENSA), Senegal, during the 1995 wet season (August to October). It provoked death in 87 animals. Young animals were particularly sensitive to the disease. Nasal discharge, conjunctivitis, eye loss and otitis media and interna were observed in young rabbits while posterior paresis was noted in mature rabbits. Pasteurella multocida, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aerogenes were identified. An antibiogram revealed the germs were sensitive to chloramphenicol, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim and colistin. High temperatures and humidity during the wet season may have contributed to the outbreak of the disease from healthy carriers introduced at the founding of the farm. Colistin and chloramphenicol treatments were administered before vaccinating all rabbits against pasteurellosis.