Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Small Ruminant Brucellosis in West Hararghe Zone of Oromia Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study design was employed on collected sera samples to investigate brucellosis in small ruminants from December 2018 to November 2019 with the objectives of estimating the seroprevalence and potential risk factors for the occurrence of brucellosis in small ruminants in selected districts of West Hararghe: Chiro, Hirna, and Mieso. A total of 2070 collected sera samples from small ruminants were tested using serological tests and screened by RBPT and confirmatory test (CFT). The overall seroprevalence of the present study was 0.24% in small ruminants (Chiro 0.2%, Hirna 0%, and Mieso 0.3%). The chi-square test (Stat 14.0) was used to determine the strength of potential risk factors associated with the occurrence of brucellosis by using univariable logistic regression. Mixed flock (OR = 2.11 (1.33–3.36 CI; P = 0.002 )), agropastoral (OR = 4.01 (2.35–6.84 CI; P = 0.0001 )) and pastoral (OR = 2.59 (1.37–4.90 CI; P = 0004 )) production system, and larger flock size (OR = 1.68 (1.08–2.60 CI; P = 0.021 ) were factors significantly affecting the prevalence of small ruminant brucellosis. Univariable analysis was used, and independent predictors of small ruminant brucellosis were further analyzed using multilogistic regression. This disease was presented in the current study area; therefore, the careful separation of positive animals would help to prevent and control further distribution of the disease.

Seroprevalence of small ruminant brucellosis in the state of Qatar

“…All seropositive goat samples were of young animals, and the seroprevalence in young sheep was much higher than in old sheep, with an odd ratio of 2.2 (95% CI: 1.1-4.3). This finding contrasts other studies and begs for an explanation as other studies consistently reported higher prevalence in older animals regardless of the animal type (Alrawahi et al, 2019;Elderbrook et al, 2019;Geletu et al, 2021;Saeed et al, 2020). It is unclear why younger animals had a higher seroprevalence in this study; however, one possibility could be the sample size, which might not be sufficient to investigate individual risk factors accurately.…”

“…Interestingly, the seroprevalence was significantly lower in goats, with an ASp of only 2.4% (95% CI: 1.1-5.2) compared to 16.7% (95% CI: 12.5-21.8) in sheep. Although many studies show a higher seroprevalence of brucellosis in sheep compared to goats, the difference between the two is usually not as wide as in the current study (Boukary et al, 2013;Geletu et al, 2021). The tendency of sheep to congregate at night and in parturition, a behaviour not displayed in goats, may explain, to a certain degree, the disparity in seroprevalence (Jabary & Al-Samarraee, 2015).…”

Study on small ruminant brucellosis and owners awareness in two selected districts of southern region, Ethiopia

“…Because of their high proliferation rate and great ability to adapt to various environmental conditions, these small ruminants represent an important export commodity that significantly contributes to the livelihood and national economy of rural farmers as a source of food (milk and meat), wool, skins, source of income, and monetary asset, especially in pastoral and lowland areas of Ethiopia (Adams et al., 2021 ). Small ruminants are a vast resource; however, production from this valuable asset is not fully realized due to several technical and non‐technical factors, including nutritional deficiency, husbandry difficulties, water scarcity, inadequate marketing, and losses associated with infectious diseases, primarily brucellosis (Ashenafi et al., 2007 ; Geletu et al., 2021 ; Tewodros & Dawit, 2015 ).…”

Brucella Seropositivity at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Chandigarh

“…As the disease is underreported, the exact incidence is difficult to predict. The disease is endemic in South and Central America, Mexico, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Asia, the Mediterranean Basin, and the Middle East [ 7 ]. Alam et al documented 7% (28/400) positivity for brucellosis by Brucella -specific latex agglutination test and found 22 (5.5%) out of 400 samples to be Brucella genus-specific real-time PCR positive [ 3 ].…”