Brucellosis is a febrile zoonotic disease that presents a severe hazard to humans and domestic animals, which requires a One Health approach to control socioeconomic consequences and public health implications on the people in the country. The majority of the cattle owners are illiterate herds' men with traditional knowledge of cattle management handed down by their ancestors. Management is free range with no supplementing or balanced diet. Access to veterinary services is almost not available, and local herdsmen treat their animals. Most of these herdsmen do not allow livestock officer visitors to have access to their animals. Processing of meat and milk uses traditional methods, and people consume fresh milk without due regard to sanitary conditions. This behavior has serious public health implications especially when the majority of the beneficiaries live in rural communities. Animals abort, while production decreases due to delayed conception. Local herdsmen confer confidence in people who are knowledgeable about cattle management. Researchers have no data on the disease in the last 50 years. Supportive action from various sectors such as human, animal and environmental health stakeholders backed by social anthropologists using the One Health Platform will provide a conducive atmosphere to engage herdsmen in initiating control measures of the disease.

The study was conducted in the southern province of Sierra Leone for a period of seven months (March -September 2019). The main objective of the study was to investigate the seroprevalence level of Newcastle disease antibodies in apparently healthy free-range chickens in selected chiefdoms in the Moyamba District of Sierra Leone. A total of three hundred and thirty-three chickens were included in the study. Sera samples collected were analyzed using competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The result of the investigation revealed an overall prevalence of 56.4% from which 21.6% and 34.8% were male and female chickens respectively. Kaiyamba chiefdom recorded the highest antibodies (73.9%), followed by Lower Banta (53.1%) and Bumpe (42.3%) chiefdoms. The difference in the prevalence of each category showed that adult female chickens were the most susceptible (67.5%) to Newcastle disease followed by the growers (55.8%) and adult male chickens (45.9%). Due to the lack of Newcastle disease vaccination history in the study areas, indigenous chickens had been exposed to the disease naturally in all the chiefdoms. Raising awareness about the disease through effective extension programs and improved animal healthcare services and husbandry practices is of great importance.

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