Detection of Brucella abortus and Brucellla melitensis in cattle and sheep from southern Cameroon

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p><jats:bold>Background:</jats:bold> Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by bacterial of the genus<jats:italic> Brucella</jats:italic>. Although investigations have identified <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> antibodies in many animal species, little attention has been paid towards specific identification of different <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> species in animals in Sub-Saharan African countries. This study was designed to identify <jats:italic>Brucella abortus </jats:italic>and <jats:italic>Brucellla melitensis</jats:italic> in cattle and sheep of several villages of southern Cameroon in order to improve our epidemiological knowledge on brucellosis in central Africa<jats:bold>Methods</jats:bold>: Blood samples were collected from 597 cattle and 315 sheep from 15 villages of two regions of Cameroon. DNA was extracted from blood samples and primers amplifying the bcsp31 gene locus were used for the identification of <jats:italic>Brucella spp </jats:italic>infections in these animals. Amongst animals found with <jats:italic>Brucella spp</jats:italic> infections, specific primes were used to identify <jats:italic>B. abortus</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>B. melitensis </jats:italic>respectively. <jats:bold>Results: </jats:bold>Of the 912 animals analyzed in this study, 159 (17.4%) were infected with <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> spp. This gives a <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> infection rate of 20.9% in cattle and 10.8% in sheep. Of the 159 animals harboring <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> <jats:italic>spp</jats:italic> infections, 119 (74.8%) were infected by <jats:italic>B</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>abortus</jats:italic> and 35 (22.0%) by <jats:italic>B. melitensis</jats:italic>.<jats:italic> </jats:italic>The overall infection rates were 18.4% (110/597) for <jats:italic>B</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>abortus</jats:italic> and 1.7% for <jats:italic>B. melitensis </jats:italic>in cattle; 2.9% for <jats:italic>B</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>abortus</jats:italic> and 7.9% for <jats:italic>B. melitensis </jats:italic>in sheep. Co-infections of <jats:italic>B</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>abortus</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>B. melitensis</jats:italic> were found in 9 (1%) animals; 6 (1%) cattle and 3 (1%) sheep. The <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> infection rate was significantly higher in animals from the Noun division (20.6%) compared to those of Yoko (12.4%). Between animal species, significant differences <jats:italic>(P = 0.0001)</jats:italic> were observed in infection rates of both <jats:italic>abortus </jats:italic>and <jats:italic>B. melitensis</jats:italic>. Within and between sampling sites, significant differences <jats:italic>(P = 0.02)</jats:italic> were observed in the <jats:italic>B</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>abortus </jats:italic>infection rates. <jats:bold>Conclusion: </jats:bold>This study revealed <jats:italic>B. melitensis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>B. abortus </jats:italic>infections<jats:italic> </jats:italic>in cattle and sheep from the Noun and Yoko divisions in southern Cameroon. The identification of <jats:italic>B. melitensis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>B. abortus </jats:italic>in animals suggests further investigations on human brucellosis. Results of this study highlight the need of developing and implementing control measures against brucellosis in Cameroon.</jats:p>

The epidemiology of bacterial zoonoses in pastoral and dairy cattle in Cameroon, Central Africa

“…The same is not usually true for B. melitensis which is usually restricted to small ruminants in SSA(Sanogo et al, 2013). However, a recent unpublished study sampling cattle and sheep in central Cameroon detected both B. abortus and B. melitensis in both species(Mitterran et al, 2020).…”

Identification and Prevalence of Brucella Species Circulating among Cattle Slaughtered in the Douala and Buea Municipalities of Cameroon

“…A review of the literature on brucellosis research in Cameroon revealed that no study has been conducted in regions experiencing the urbanisation of cattle from the regions reported to be endemic for the disease [4,18]. In Cameroon, only one attempt has been made at speciating Brucella in a study by Mitterran et al, who revealed a prevalence of 18.4% for B. abortus and 1.7% for B. melitensis in cattle [19]. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of cattle brucellosis in the littoral and south-west regions of Cameroon, by investigating cattle slaughtered at the Buea and Douala slaughterhouses.…”