Brucella Infection in Horses From Hamedan Province, Iran

Abstract

Background Brucellosis, as a common zoonotic disease from Iran, is a particularly essential animal disease that is occasionally observed in horses (1,2). Livestock plays an important role in supplying milk, meat, and wool in Iran. Additionally, horses are used as farmworkers, and for transport, equitation, and sports in rural and suburb areas of urban regions. Therefore, they play a significant role in the distribution of infection in animal to animal and/ or animal to human models (3). Three species of Brucella (i.e., B. abortus, B. suis, and B. canis) are the causes of brucellosis in the horse but B. abortus is the dominant species (4). Genitally tract disorders and reproductive failures such as abortion and stillbirth are the routine findings of infections in animals. Clinical symptoms in horses are termed as "poll-evil" or "fistulous withers", leading to abscess and fistulation in the affected location (5). The isolation of bacteria is a gold standard for diagnosis although techniques based on immuno-serology such as Rose-Bengal plate test (RBPT) and standard tube agglutination test (STAT) are user friendly because of rapid function and low cost (2,5). There are 1750 horse populations in the equestrian clubs, breeding farms, and rural regions of Hamedan province. According to the Iranian Veterinary Organization (IVO) approach, there is no vaccination program against brucellosis in horses (1). Brucellosis in horses from Iran and other countries (Figure 1) was reported in limit scales (3,6-11). To compensate for this fracture, the current project was designed to screen Brucella infection in the horses of the region based on serology. Methods In a cross-sectional study conducted during April 2019-January 2019, 495 blood samples (5 mL from the jugular vein) of the horses were collected from different equestrian clubs (n = 24) in Bahar, Razan, Asadabad, and Hamedan in Hamedan province (Figure 1). The animals were of different breeds without the clinical signs of disease. The samples were taken from the animals after obtaining official permissions and under the supervision of the Institutional Animal Ethics and Research Committee of IVO (Certificate No. 98/3127/27838). After the preparation of sera samples (centrifuge at 1200 ×g for 12 minutes), they were screened for the presence of anti-Brucella antibodies using the RBPT. Briefly, equal volumes (30 μL) of RBPT antigens (Razi Vaccine and Serum Institute, Iran) and serum samples were placed on a white ceramic tile and then mixed and rocked gently for 4 minutes. The reaction was recorded positive when the agglutination was observed and the antigens could detect B. abortus, B. melitensis, and B. suis (12). Results and Discussion Background on the prevalence and risk factors associated with brucellosis in animals is extremely important because of the zoonotic impact (1). In our serology

Seroprevalence and risk factors of brucellosis in Arabian horses

“…As the findings showed, the seroprevalence of brucellosis reported in this study using RBPT (1.11%), SAT (9.44%), 2‐ME (7.22%) and ELISA test (7.22%) was in the range of the proportion (0–10%) previously reported in Iran (Badiei et al., 2013; Gharekhani et al., 2020; Ghobadi & Salehi, 2013; Hashemitabar & Poursafar, 2005; Nemati, 2017; Rafeiei Sharebabaki, 2018; Tahamtan et al., 2008; Tahamtan et al., 2010; Taheri, 2018). Therefore, despite differences in timing, environment and host determinants, diagnostic tests, sampling size and study designs, the prevalence of brucellosis in the Iranian horses is almost the same, and the seroprevalence of brucellosis is expected to be less than 10% across Iran.…”

“…The average incidence of brucellosis in the Iranian human population was 21 cases per 100,000 populations, although this varied between 1.5 and 107.5 per 100,000 population in different parts of the country (Zeinali et al, 2011). Also, the serological prevalence of equine brucellosis in some parts of Iran varied from 0 to 12% (Badiei et al, 2013;Gharekhani et al, 2020;Ghobadi & Salehi, 2013;Hashemitabar & Poursafar, 2005;Nemati, 2017;Rafeiei Sharebabaki, 2018;Tahamtan et al, 2008Tahamtan et al, , 2010Taheri, 2018). The prevalence of brucellosis infection in horses depends on factors such as the status of management and health measures, host determinants, sample size, and diagnostic methods used.…”

Brucellosis in livestock: First study on seroepidemiology, risk factors, and preventive strategies to manage the disease in Famenin, Iran

“…In Gharekhani et al [15] study from Hamedan, all of the milk samples from dairy farm tested were negative for Brucella-infection using molecular methods. Unlike this, wild and vaccinated of Brucella strains were isolated in milk samples of dairy farms in different regions of Iran [10].…”

“…In studies about Hamedan Province, 8.1% of veterinarians, 15% of abattoir staff, and 17% of butchers were reported to be Brucella-infection positive [14]. In addition, according to Gharekhani et al [15], Gharekhani and Sazmand [16], 3.3% of dogs had antibodies to Brucella-infection. Interestingly, no antibody was detected in the studied horses.…”

Microbiological, serological and molecular diagnosis of abscess of withers in equine in the State of Pará

“…The isolation and identification of bacteria from cervical lesions is the gold standard for diagnosis, however the difficulty of this procedure and limitation for large-scale use has made the use of techniques such as the Rose-Bengal plate test (RBPT) and Standard Tube agglutination Test (SAT) more frequent due to the speed of the result and the low cost (Fernandes & Gradela, 2014;Gharekhani et al, 2020). The most widely used serological method is the RBPT (recommended by PNCEBT) and in which the presence of agglutination, will classify the animal as reagent to the test, being able to be submitted to confirmatory tests.…”