Cross-sectional survey of brucellosis and associated risk factors in the livestock–wildlife interface area of Nechisar National Park, Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional survey was carried out to investigate the seroprevalence of ovine and bovine brucellosis in the livestock-wildlife interface area of Nechisar National Park, Ethiopia. Furthermore, producer's knowledge about brucellosis and its zoonotic potential was assessed using a structured questionnaire. A total of 268 cattle and 246 goat sera were collected from 50 herds and 46 flocks and subjected to Rose Bengal test (RBT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in parallel to detect anti-Brucella species antibodies. Positive reactions were further confirmed with compliment fixation test (CFT). Flock and herd level seroprevalence rate was 12.8% (95% CI 4.8-25.7) and 32.0% (95% CI 19.5-46.7) in goats and cattle, respectively. An overall animal-level seroprevalence of 4.5% (95% CI 2.25-7.86) and 9.7% (95% CI 6.44-13.89) was recorded for goats and cattle, respectively. Seroprevalence showed an increasing trend with age, where adult cattle > 2 years. Goats (> 1 year) recorded relatively higher seroprevalence, but the differences were not statistically significant. Similarly, female cattle and goats recorded a relatively higher seroprevalence, 11 and 5.6%, respectively, compared to males but the difference was not significant. However, a significant (P < 0.01) variation of seroprevalence was noted for parity (bovine), higher in animals in second parity, and abortion history, in both species, higher in animals that experienced abortion. Interviews revealed lack of awareness about brucellosis and food safety related to the zoonotic potential from consuming raw animal products (milk and meat). Ninety-eight percent of respondents did not consider handling abortion material is risky, and only a very low proportion (8%, n = 50) was able to mention limited zoonotic diseases (anthrax and Taenia cysticercosis) could be transmissible to people. The study indicated that brucellosis is endemic in domestic animals in the interface area and calls for further broad epidemiological investigation of the disease in livestock, human and wildlife following 'one health' unified research approaches beside enhancing public awareness.

Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Bovine Brucellosis at the Wildlife-Livestock-Human Interface in Rwanda

“…However, herds belonging to such farmers had higher odds (5.5 times) of brucellosis seropositivity than herds with no awareness, which indicates that despite the knowledge, there is negligence in implementing recommended control measures such as restriction of movement and removal of seropositive animals from the herd. In contrast, several other studies reported poor knowledge of brucellosis among several cattle keepers [ 16 , 35 ], and this was associated with an increase of Brucella infection in herds.…”

Seroprevalence of Bovine Brucellosis in Ethiopia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The 15 eligible studies which were considered for determining the seroprevalence of brucellosis in cattle are summarized in Supplementary Table 1. 4,7,[11][12][13][14][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] The studies were published in the year between 2009 and 2019. All the selected studies were cross-sectional study design in nature (Supplementary Table 1).…”

Bovine brucellosis – a comprehensive review

“…Cattle in both systems showed low level of endemicity of brucellosis (Asgedom et al 2016). Chaka et al (2018) found herd level prevalence of brucellosis in cattle in Ethiopia at 32% while an overall cattle level prevalence of 9.7% was recorded based on serological tests also. Getachew…”