The district Gujranwala lies at northern part of the Punjab in Pakistan. It is situated between two main cities, in North is Gujrat and in South, there are Sheikhupura and Lahore. The majority of the population lives in the rural areas and mainly earns their livelihood through agriculture. The source of irrigation is perennial and non-perennial canals supplemented by tube wells. This area is heavily populated with buffaloes rather than cattle. Buffalo is playing a foremost role in the national economy by producing milk, meat and draught power. Out of total milk produced in the country, buffalo contributes about 68 %. Due to high fat contents of buffalo milk, it is the ideal species in Pakistan (Bilal et al. 2006). Buffaloes suffer from many fatal diseases throughout the year causing irretrievable economic losses in the GDP. Among these fatal diseases, Postparturient haemoglobinuria is a frightening problem for the economy of Pakistan and as well as for the whole world.
Postparturient haemoglobinuria is a periodic condition seen worldwide that most frequently affects high-yielding dairy animals at the onset of lactation. It is characterized by development of per acute intravascular hemolysis and anemia with potentially lethal results. Beef and non-lactating cattle are hardly ever affected. The exact cause is unidentified, but phosphorus reduction or hypophosphatemia is known to be a major predisposing factor. Decrease in the Phosphorus level of RBCs is known to raise osmotic tenderness of the RBCs, probably predisposing to intravascular hemolysis. A parallel condition reported in New Zealand was linked with copper depletion, potentially building
RBCs were more prone to oxidative trauma. Other potential causes were hemolytic or oxidative plant toxins (Michael A. Moses and Aiello 2014).
In buffalo rearing countries mainly in India, Pakistan and Egypt, Postparturient haemoglobinuria was a major problem as described by (Pirzada and Hussain 1998). Acute hypo phosphataemia was linked with high producing buffaloes and characterized by intravascular hemolysis (Kurundkar et al. 1981).
Postparturient haemoglobinuria was a disease of high yielding buffaloes in district Attock, Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Faisalabad where soil was deficient in mineral contents. The disease was distinguished by icteric and inflexible constipation in pregnant animal (Hussain et al. 1991). Postparturient haemoglobinuria was mainly disease of buffaloes and found in almost all the districts of Pakistan (Pirzada and Hussain 1998).
In buffaloes, Postparturient haemoglobinuria occurred mostly after 3rd week of parturition during 3rd to 5th lactation having a period of 5 to 6 days of illness (Nagpal et al. 1968). The occurrence of hypophosphatemia was highest in buffaloes in progressive pregnancy or in 3rd to 6th lactation (Gautam et al. 1972).
Multiparous females were mostly affected by Hypo phosphataemia and a range of etiological factors were reported to be related with the disease in unusual parts of the world (Singari et al. 1991). Dietary phosphorus shortage and rations containing cruciferous plants were supposed causes of rigorous hypo phosphataemia and had been associated with hemolytic anemia in cows and buffaloes (Heuer and Bode 1998).
Mucous membranes turned pale or might become icteric with the development of anemia and breathing became rapid and shallow with tachycardia (Spears 2003). During third to sixth lactation of adult dairy buffaloes, this disease was more frequently seen, showing weakness and recumbency (Macwilliams et al. 1982). The occurrence of the disease in the total cattle population was very stumpy with a case fatality rate ranging from 10% to 50% (Madsen and Nielsen 1939). Sporadically, farms with a predominantly elevated incidence might be encountered but typically only one or two cases were clinically evident at one time (Freudenberg 1955). In Australia, about 70% cases were reported within 30 days of calving (Mulijns and Ramsay 1959). Bulls, ante partum cows, heifers less than two years old and beef cows were rarely affected. A disease called as "red water" in Ontario, was allied with numerous predisposing factors which integrated recent parturition, intense milk production, dietetic phosphorus absence, utilization of turnips, rape, kale, green alfalfa and sugar beet pulp (Macwilliams et al. 1982).
Postparturient haemoglobinuria was one of the foremost and economically important diseases of dairy animals in Pakistan, India and elsewhere in the world (Macwilliams et al. 1982; Chugh et al. 1996; Pirzada and Hussain 1998). Diagnosis was done on the basis of clinical signs, urinalysis and hematological reports of the examined animals (Madsen and Nielsen 1939).
In a survey conducted during 1996 in Punjab (Pakistan), mortality rate due to Postparturient haemoglobinuria in buffaloes and cattle was 5% which translated into estimated annual losses of Rs. 490.2 and 153.1 million, respectively (Farooq et al. 2007).