Effectiveness and cost of different concentrations of iodine tincture for treatment of caseous lymphadenitis abscesses

Caseous lymphadenitis is a highly prevalent disease in sheep and goats, persisting in herds as it causes abscesses that, if not properly treated, release a large amount of contaminated material into the environment, infecting animals. The conventional treatment available is surgical drainage of abscesses, followed by chemical cauterization with 10% iodine tincture. Seeking to improve the success and cost in treatment of abscesses, the objectives of this work were to evaluate the effectiveness of different concentrations of iodine tincture and to determine the ideal treatment time to eliminate bacteria and reduce relapses. Therefore, 40 animals were submitted to surgical drainage of mature abscesses, of which 28 goats were separated into three groups that were treated with different concentrations of iodine tincture (2, 5 and 10%) and 12 sheep were treated with 10% iodine tincture. The process of healing and microbiological cure of the wound was monitored daily by taking notes about the appearance and procedures performed, and by collecting swabs for microbial isolation. In goats, the treatment with 10% iodine tincture was the most cost-effective, due to the lowest cost, shorter treatment time and greater effectiveness in eliminating C. pseudotuberculosis. The ideal treatment time in goats and sheep is the cauterization of the wound until the complete removal of the capsule, continuing for at least two more days, for a minimum period of 10 days, followed by the absence of pus and the process of healing with intact tissue.