Seroprevalence of Bovine Brucellosis in Selected Districts of Zambia

Abstract

Brucellosis is an infectious zoonosis that has huge economic and public health implications globally. The disease is prevalent in humans, livestock and wildlife in Sub Saharan Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 6th May 2017 and 31st July 2020 during which 1712 sera from 177 cattle herds in Southern, Western and Eastern provinces of Zambia was collected and screened against brucellosis. Rose Bengal Test and c-ELISA were used in serial testing for detection of antibodies against Brucella species. Results: A total of 127 animals and 37 herds tested positive, giving an overall individual and herd seroprevalence of 7.42% (CI: 0.61-0.86) and 20.9% respectively. Namwala district recorded the highest seroprevalence (12.2%) while Lundazi had the lowest (0%). A higher seropositivity was observed among female animals (8.5%), those aged between 11 and 17 years (14.1%) and pregnant cows (13.8%). Conclusions: Brucella seroprevalence among traditional cattle in Zambia remains high. It is vital that control programmes against bovine brucellosis are introduced in order to reduce its zoonotic impact on human health and increase animal production.

Documenting the absence of bovine brucellosis in dairy cattle herds in the southern region of Malawi and the associated knowledge, attitudes and practices of farmers

“…In the Nabibe province of Angola, the seroprevalence of brucellosis in animals and herds was found to be 14.96% and 40.10%, respectively (Mufinda, Boinas & Nunes 2017) whilst in Zambia, the individual prevalences of 7.9%, 14.3% and 18.7% (Chimana et al 2014), 8.7% and19% (Muma et al 2006) were reported. A recent study in selected districts of Zambia by Mfune et al (2021) reported individual and herd prevalences in ranges of 0.0% -7.3% and 0.0% -21.1%, respectively. In Zimbabwe, seroprevalences of 9.9% and 5.6% were found (Gomo et al 2012;Matope et al 2011), whilst Mozambique reported a 9.7% seroprevalence in wildlife-livestock interface areas (Tanner et al 2014).…”

Risk Factors and Occurrence of Bovine Brucellosis in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

“…i-ELISA is usually considered to have a higher sensitivity and specificity in determining brucella specific antibodies than other serological tests (Varshochi et al, 2011). Ayoola et al (2017) and Mfune et al (2021) reported higher occurrences of 7.8% and 7.5% for studies that were carried out in Nigeria and Zambia, respectively. These authors attributed high occurrences of bovine brucellosis to factors such as limited restrictions on the trans-border movement of cattle which may result in infected cattle being sold in markets (Ogundipe, 2002).…”