Abstract

Makoshi M. S.* and Arowolo R. O. A

The therapeutic effect of a cream ointment prepared from the leaves of Tephrosia vogelii Hook F., was tested for the treatment of bovine dermatophilosis in four local cow s of the Sokoto Gudali breed and two 50% Holstein Friesian crosses in Jos, Plateau State Nigeria. All the selected animals used in this study were naturally infected by the Dermatophilus congolensis organism. The selected animals all showed established, oozing, and hard crusty lesions on their skins, typical of dermatophilus lesions. All the animals had various degrees of infections ranging from mild to severe, with the lesions located on different parts of the skin. Six of the animals were selected for the experimental treatment with the prepared ointment made from the leaves of T. vogelii, while the rest of the infected animals in the herd were kept untreated as the control. A cream ointment was prepared from the leaves of T. vogelii for topical application on the skin lesions of the affected animals. The ointment was applied liberally on the lesions every other day. The crusts on the skins of the affected animals were observed to start falling off from the third day in the local animals, and on the sixth day in the crosses, following the first application of the ointment. Complete healing and new hair growth was observed within the period of 4 to 8 weeks. The affected areas of the skins became completely healed and normal without any problem in all the affected animals. No healing or improvement was observed in the control group that was left untreated.