Cattle brucellosis in traditional livestock husbandry practice in Southern and Eastern Ethiopia, and its zoonotic implication

Abstract

BackgroundCattle brucellosis has significant economic and zoonotic implication for the rural communities in Ethiopia in consequence of their traditional life styles, feeding habits and disease patterns. Hence, knowledge of brucellosis occurrence in traditional livestock husbandry practice has considerable importance in reducing the economic and public health impacts of the disease.MethodsA total of 1623 cattle sera were serially tested using the rose Bengal test as screening and complement fixation test as confirmatory tests. The Stata survey command was used to establish prevalences for the overall and individual variables, while potential risk factors for seropositivity were analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe results showed that 3.5% (95% CI = 2.4, 4.5%) of the animals and 26.1% (95% CI = 18.6, 33.7) of the herds tested had antibodies against Brucella species. Village level seroprevalence ranged from 0% to 100%. A higher seroprevalence was observed in pastoral system than mixed farming although this variable was not significant in the final model. The final logistic regression model identified herd size; with large (odd ratio (OR) = 8.0, 95% CI = 1.9, 33.6) and medium herds (OR = 8.1, 95% CI = 1.9, 34.2) showing higher risk of Brucella infection when compared to small herds. Similarly, the odds of Brucella infection was higher in cattle aged above 4 years when compared to age groups of 1-2 (OR = 5.4, 2.1, 12.9) and 3-4 years (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 1.0, 9.6). Herd level analysis of the risk factors revealed that large and medium herds as well as herds kept with multiple livestock species were at higher risk of acquiring Brucella infection. Brucellosis in traditional livestock husbandry practices certainly poses a zoonotic risk to the public, in consequence of raw milk consumption, close contact with animals and provision of assistance during parturition. Due to lack of diagnostic facilities and information on its occurrence, human brucellosis is most likely misdiagnosed for other febrile diseases prevailing in the areas and treated empirically.ConclusionsThe results of this study demonstrated that bovine brucellosis is widely prevalent in the study areas particularly in pastoral production system. Hence, the study suggests the need for implementing control measures and raising public awareness on prevention methods of brucellosis.

Reproductive Infections in Cattle in Tanzania – Lessons for Control Priorities

“…Evidence suggests that when Brucella spp. is introduced into herds, a large proportion of animals will be infected and the infection will persist for a longer time [30][31][32]. Sharing of pasture and drinking water facilitate transmission of most infectious diseases, which is in line with the present findings of grazing as risk factor for Brucella and BVDV infections [33].…”

Epidemiology and Economic Impact Assessment of Caprine Brucellosis in Penang State, Malaysia: A Retrospective Analysis

“…At the same time, we believed that the reallocation of time and resources by the authorities to control other pandemics and re-emerging infections, notably the multiple outbreaks of FMD (Edwards, 2004;Wongsathapornchai et al, 2008), bird flu (H5N1) (Morris et al, 2005) and swine flu (H1N1) (Goodwin et al, 2011) led to asubstantial reduction in of nationwide brucellosis surveillance and control program. Previous studies have also reported that location, region or area have a significant correlation with brucellosis seropositivity, which, according to the authors, is attributable to management practices and other agroecological factors (Megersa et al, 2011). It is also possible that the difference was due to other confounding variables unaccounted for in this study.…”

Serological evidence for brucellosis in Bos indicus in Nigeria

“…Bovine brucellosis has recently been reported from different countries in Africa including Ethiopia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, indicating that the disease is present throughout the continent (Chimana et al 2010;Matope et al 2011;Megersa et al 2011;Tesfaye et al 2011). Bovine brucellosis was also reported from two of Nigeria's neighbour countries, Chad and Cameroon (Schelling et al 2003;Scolamacchia et al 2010;Bronsvoort et al 2009;Bayemi et al 2009).…”