Highlights Brucellosis is endemically established among dairy herds in West and Central Africa. Brucella spp. infection is present at high levels in dairy herds in Lomé and Bamako. Brucellosis poses a public health concern in dairy chains of West and Central Africa. Brucellosis control programs are urgently needed in West and Central Africa.

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African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious viral disease that causes high mortality, approaching 100%, in domestic pigs and wild boars. The disease has neither a cure nor a vaccine, and it is caused by an ASF virus (ASFV), the only member of the family Asfarviridae, genus Asfivirus, and the only known DNA arbovirus. Twenty-four genotypes of ASFV have been described to date, and all of them have been described in Africa. ASF is endemic in Burundi, and several outbreaks have been reported in the country; the disease continues to economically impact on small-scale farmers. This study aimed at genetic characterization of ASFV that caused an ASF outbreak in the Rutana region, Burundi, in the year 2018. Tissue samples from domestic pigs that died as a result of a severe hemorrhagic disease were collected in order to confirm the disease using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and to conduct partial genome sequencing. Nucleotide sequences were obtained for the B646L (p72) gene, the intergenic fragment between the I73R and I329L genes, and the central variable region (CVR) of the B602L gene. Phylogenetic analysis of the Burundian 2018 ASFV grouped the virus within B646L (p72) genotype X and clustered together with those reported during the 1984 and 1990 outbreaks in Burundi with high nucleotide identity to some ASFV strains previously reported in neighboring East African countries, indicating a regional distribution of this ASFV genotype. Analysis of the intergenic fragment between I73R and I329L genes showed that the Burundian 2018 ASFV described in this study lacked a 32-base pair (bp) fragment present in the reference genotype X strain, Kenya 1950. In addition, the strain described in this study had the signature AAABNAABA at the CVR (B602L) gene and showed 100% amino acid sequence identity to viruses responsible for recent ASF outbreaks in the region. The virus described in this study showed high genetic similarities with ASFV strains previously described in domestic pigs, wild suids, and soft ticks in East African countries, indicating a possible common wild source and continuous circulation in domestic pigs in the region.

Several African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks in domestic pigs have been reported in Burundi and Malawi and whole-genome sequences of circulating outbreak viruses in these countries are limited. In the present study, complete genome sequences of ASF viruses (ASFV) that caused the 2018 outbreak in Burundi (BUR/18/Rutana) and the 2019 outbreak in Malawi (MAL/19/Karonga) were produced using Illumina next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform and compared with other previously described ASFV complete genomes. The complete nucleotide sequences of BUR/18/Rutana and MAL/19/Karonga were 176,564 and 183,325 base pairs long with GC content of 38.62 and 38.48%, respectively. The MAL/19/Karonga virus had a total of 186 open reading frames (ORFs) while the BUR/18/Rutana strain had 151 ORFs. After comparative genomic analysis, the MAL/19/Karonga virus showed greater than 99% nucleotide identity with other complete nucleotides sequences of p72 genotype II viruses previously described in Tanzania, Europe and Asia including the Georgia 2007/1 isolate. The Burundian ASFV BUR/18/Rutana exhibited 98.95 to 99.34% nucleotide identity with genotype X ASFV previously described in Kenya and in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The serotyping results classified the BUR/18/Rutana and MAL/19/Karonga ASFV strains in serogroups 7 and 8, respectively. The results of this study provide insight into the genetic structure and antigenic diversity of ASFV strains circulating in Burundi and Malawi. This is important in order to understand the transmission dynamics and genetic evolution of ASFV in eastern Africa, with an ultimate goal of designing an efficient risk management strategy against ASF transboundary spread.

Brucellosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease of socio‐economic importance. Understanding the association of this disease with pregnancy outcome has the potential of contributing to the reduction of its reproductive burden in humans and animals among pastoral communities in Tanzania. A prospective cohort study was conducted in Kagera Region on pregnant women (n = 76) and gravid ruminants (121 cattle, 125 goats and 111 sheep). Exposed and non‐exposed groups to brucellosis were followed for 6 months (from 15 November 2017 to 15 April 2018). Sera were collected and analysed using Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and Fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) test. Measures of effect, univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed. Positivity to both RBT and FPA tests was 21% (95% CI: 12.5–32) in pregnant women and 5% (95% CI: 3.1–8) in gravid ruminants. Among aborted cases, four women (out of nine), two cows (out of seven), two goats (out of 26) and zero sheep (out of 11) were positive to brucellosis. The abortion rate in humans and ruminants was 11.8% and 12.3%, respectively. Seropositivity to brucellosis was similar in aborted and non‐aborted cases in humans (p = .08) and in ruminants (p = .2). At the population level, brucellosis was associated with abortions (population attributable risk: PAR) at 3.5% in pregnant women and at 0.5% in gravid ruminants in the study area. Infections to brucellosis were increased in exposed pregnant women (OR = 19; 95% CI: 1.8–203, p = .01) and in cattle (OR = 11; 95% CI: 1.3–88, p = .02). There is an indication that brucellosis could be contributing to abortions in pregnant women and domestic ruminants Kagera Region. Molecular tools could support more the results from serological tests to avoid cross‐reaction with other pathogen agents. Control of brucellosis in animals is likely to reduce the threat of abortions in humans.

Background: Brucellosis is an important disease for both veterinary and public health. A study was conducted to under- stand the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its associated risk factors in pastoral areas of Kagera, Tanzania. Methods: Sera from 156 patients with malaria-like symptoms were analyzed using the commercial rapid agglutination test (specific for B.abortus and B.melitensis detection) and Fluorescence Polarization Assay (FPA). Sera from 426 cattle, 206 goats and 197 sheep were analyzed using Rose Bengal Plate (RBPT) and Competitive ELISA (c-ELISA) tests. Results: In humans, overall brucellosis, B. abortus, and B. melitensis sero-prevalences were 7.7% (95%CI: 3.8-12.2%), 1.9% (95% CI: 0.4-4.5%), and 5.8 % (95%CI: 2.6-10.6%), respectively. At animal level, seropositivity was 5.9% (95%CI: 4.0-8.6%), 2.5% (95%CI: 0.8-5.7%) and 0.5% (95%CI: 0.01-2.8%) in cattle, goats and sheep, respectively. At herd level, seropositivity was 18.2% (95%CI: 12.0-25.8%) in cattle and 6.9% (95%CI: 2.2-15.3%) in small ruminants. Brucellosis was associated with assisting in parturition without wearing protective gears (OR= 5.6; p= 0.02) in humans, herds of 50-200 animals (OR= 4.2, p= 0.01) and cattle (OR=3.5; p=0.01). The knowledge of brucellosis among pastoralists (OR=0.1; p<0.01) was a protective factor. Conclusion: Brucella infections could be occurring in pastoralists and domestic ruminants in Kagera. Community health education is necessary for the control of brucellosis in Tanzania. Keywords: Brucellosis; pastoralists; risk factors; Tanzania.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of importance to both public health and the livestock industry. The disease is likely to be endemic in Tanzania and little is reported on molecular characterization of Brucella species in pastoral settings. This study aimed at characterizing Brucella species (targeting genus Brucella) infecting humans, cattle and goat in Kagera region (Ngara and Karagwe districts) using real‐time PCR, PCR amplification of 16S rRNA genes and Sanger sequencing. Brucella spp. were detected in 47 samples (19 sera and 28 milk) out of 125 samples (77 sera, 35 milk and 13 aborted materials) using real‐time PCR. All aborted materials (13 samples) were negative to real‐time PCR. Out of the 47 real‐time PCR positive samples (28 milk and 19 sera), 20 samples (10 milk and 10 sera) showed an expected 16S rRNA gene PCR product. Sequence analysis and blasting confirmed the presence of Brucella spp. in pastoral areas of Kagera region. The Brucella spp. from Kagera were phylogenetically grouped in two clades and three branches all closer to B. melitensis, B. abortus and B. suis from USA, Sudan and Iran. However, they were distinct from other species isolated also in USA, New Zealand, Germany and Egypt. This was expected based on the distance between the geographical regions from which the data (nucleotides sequences from 16S gene sequencing) for the phylogeny reconstruction were obtained. This is the first study to report Brucella species identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing in East and Central Africa. A livestock vaccination program re‐inforced with a high index of Brucella diagnosis is needed to eradicate brucellosis in animals and minimize suffering from Brucella infections in humans in Tanzania.

Background Taenia solium cysticercosis is a zoonotic disease that is endemic in many low- and middle-income countries where risk factors for disease transmission are present. The economic impact of cysticercosis on public health and on the pig production sector is not well known in many of those countries, including Burundi. This study aimed at estimating the burden of T. solium cysticercosis in Burundi including data on humans and pigs. Methods Epidemiological and economic data were collected from literature up to July 30, 2021 and governmental and non-governmental agencies. Direct and indirect costs for neurocysticercosis (NCC)-associated epilepsy and losses due to porcine cysticercosis were estimated to assess the economic burden, while the health burden was estimated using zoonotic disability-adjusted life years (zDALYs). Different probability distributions (Uniform, Beta, Dirichlet and Gamma) were applied depending on the type of epidemiological parameter. Monte Carlo simulations and 100,000 iterations were used to calculate the 95% uncertainty interval (UI) for each parameter and perform sensitivity analyses. Results In Burundi, 4.26 million USD (95% UI, 1,858,308–8,190,951) were estimated as economic impact due to T. solium cysticercosis in humans and pigs, of which 40.2% (95% UI, 10.3–75.1) of the total costs were due to NCC-associated epilepsy and 59.8% (95% UI, 24.9–89.7) of the losses due to porcine cysticercosis. The cost per NCC-associated epilepsy case was 72 USD (95% UI, 25–168), representing 30.8% of the GDP per capita in 2020. The probable incident cases and deaths for NCC-associated epilepsy were 9065 (95% UI, 2370–16,716) and 61 (95% UI, 16–114), respectively. More than 2 zDALYs (95% UI, 1.1–3.4) per thousand person-years was estimated, of which an average of 1.3 DALYs [0;0] (95% UI, 0.3–2.6) was due to NCC- associated epilepsy and 0.8 animal loss equivalents (ALEs) (95% UI, 0.3–1.5) due to porcine cysticercosis. Conclusions This study provides evidence of a significant burden of T. solium cysticercosis for Burundi’s population. We urge policy makers to use these evidence-based results and put T. solium cysticercosis on the public health agenda of the country. This study recommends urgent action to find solutions for integrated control strategies for T. solium cysticercosis in Burundi.