Seroprevalence of brucellosis and risk factors associated with its seropositivity in cattle, goats and humans in Iganga District, Uganda

Abstract

Introduction The burden of brucellosis among smallholder farmers is poorly-documented in Uganda. The disease burden is likely to be high, given the high levels of endemicity, lots of exposures and due to lack of control measures. In order to designate appropriate control measures, the magnitude and risk factors for brucellosis need to be known. We established the burden of and risk factors for Brucella seropositivity in cattle, goats, and humans in Iganga district, eastern Uganda. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in in Kigulamo Parish, Iganga District. We enrolled 226 households and administered a structured questionnaire to heads of households to capture data on socio-demographic characteristics, human brucellosis-related risk factors, and livestock farming practices. Human, cattle, and goat blood samples were collected and tested serologically using commercial indirect-ELISA kits manufactured by USDA, USA. Results Of 451 human blood samples, 20 (4.4%) were positive. Among 345 cattle blood samples, 4 (1.2%) were positive and among 351 goat blood samples, one (0.3%) was positive. Persons who reported consuming locally-made dairy products had 4 times higher odds of Brucella seropositivity (OR = 4.0, CI = 1.14-14.03, p = 0.031) than those who did not. None of the risk factors we asked about were significantly associated with seropositivity in cattle and goats. Conclusion The seroprevalence of brucellosis in humans in smallholder households in Kigulamo was relatively low and associated with consumption of locally made dairy products. No risk factors were significantly associated with seropositivity in livestock, likely due to the small number of seropositive animals. We recommend a One Health approach to control brucellosis simultaneously in animals and humans needed to sustainably reduce the burden of brucellosis in Uganda and beyond.

Seroprevalence of human Brucellosis and associated risk factors among high-risk occupations in Mbeya Region of Tanzania

“…[11,15] In contrast, similar studies in South Sudan and Uganda found seroprevalences of 33.3% and 4.4% among cattle herders and livestock farmers respectively. [14,27] These findings were higher than those from our study in all occupational groups except for the study among slaughterhouse workers in Ghana. [15] Brucellosis has also been reported in butcher and slaughterhouse workers in Iran at 7.9% seroprevalence.…”

“…Some studies have reported human brucellosis at seroprevalences ranging from 0.02% to 33.3% in Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Sudan and Ethiopia. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] In Tanzania, several studies have been done in Katavi, Manyara, Morogoro, Northern Tanzania, Mwanza and Tanga regions which have reported human brucellosis at seroprevalences ranging from 0.6 to 48.4%. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] However, there is no previous report on the disease among the high-risk human population in Mbeya region.…”

Brucellosis: Prevalence with reference to East African community countries – A rapid review

“…Human brucellosis was also reported in recent brucellosis studies in Uganda published from 2010 to 2019. The reported human brucellosis prevalence varied between 4.0% and 33.0% (Ezama et al., 2018, 2019; Frank et al., 2017; Kansiime et al., 2015; Majalija et al., 2018; Migisha et al., 2018; Miller et al., 2016; Muloki et al., 2018; Nabukenya et al., 2013; Nanfuka, 2018; Nasinyama et al., 2014; Nguna et al., 2019; Tumwine et al., 2015). These human brucellosis results should, however, be interpreted considering that most of them were conducted on suspected patients attending hospitals with febrile illness or having prolonged fevers and on exposed cattle keepers and farm attendants in pastoralist and agro‐pastoralist communities.…”

Rift Valley fever and Brucella spp. in ruminants, Somalia

“…seroprevalence rates than sheep and goats. It has been found that the prevalence of brucellosis is higher in pastoral grazing areas than in the urban and peri-urban areas [ 32 ]. In the present study, sheep and goats were originally from urban and peri-urban areas of Afgoye and Jowhar districts, which may explain the lower Brucella seroprevalence found.…”