Brucellosis in sub-Saharan Africa: epidemiology, control and impact

doi:10.1016/S0378-1135(02)00249-3

Veterinary Microbiology

Volume 90, Issues 1–4, 20 December 2002, Pages 111-134

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1135(02)00249-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

Brucellosis is an important disease among livestock and people in sub-Saharan Africa. In general, the incidence is the highest in pastoral production systems and decreases as herd size and size of landholding decreases. The prevalence of risk factors for infections are best understood for bovine brucellosis and to a lesser extent for ovine and caprine brucellosis. The occurrence and epidemiology of brucellosis in pigs is poorly understood. This species bias is also reflected in control activities. As with other public-sector animal health services, the surveillance and control of brucellosis in sub-Saharan Africa is rarely implemented outside southern Africa. Brucellosis is even more ignored in humans and most cases go undiagnosed and untreated, leading to considerable suffering for those affected. Decision-making to determine the importance of brucellosis control relative to other public concerns and what brucellosis control strategies should be applied is urgently required. A strategy for how brucellosis decision-making might be considered and applied in future is outlined.

Section snippets

Background

Livestock play a crucial role in the livelihoods of the majority of Africans. In arid and semi-arid regions, livestock keeping is the main livelihood strategy, while in many crop–livestock systems in semi-arid, sub-humid and even humid zones, livestock are a critical resource, providing meat, milk, traction, nutrients for crops (e.g. manure) and cash income. Livestock also have important social roles in many cultural traditions.

Within sub-Saharan Africa, many of the known infectious

Epidemiology in animals

Bovine, caprine, ovine and porcine brucellosis are all considered important diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Across the sub-continent, there is a great variation in the occurrence and transmission of these different types of brucellosis. Thus, to begin, we describe the main livestock production systems in sub-Saharan Africa and their animal populations at risk of brucellosis.

Control programs

Brucellosis is just one of many infectious diseases to be controlled by national and local animal health and disease control services. Animal health services delivered by the public-sector have greatly declined over the past 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa. These service delivery trends have been considered by numerous authors (de Hann and Bekure, 1991, Holden, 1999, Leonard, 1993, McLeod and Wilsemore, 2002, Schillhorn van Veen and de Haan, 1995, Umali-Deininger et al., 1992). For the control

Economic impact

Due to its effects on multiple animal species and humans, the impact of brucellosis is considered great in sub-Saharan Africa (Perry et al., 2002). However, valuing these impacts across species is complicated. Economic impacts of brucellosis on livestock species can be estimated, although data is lacking, because prices can be estimated for direct losses due to morbidity and mortality and indirect losses due to treatment costs. Control programs can then be evaluated based on the potential

The way forward

Our assumption is that brucellosis is an important disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Available evidence strongly suggests that brucellosis causes substantial losses in bovine, ovine, and caprine (as well as camel) populations, particularly in pastoralists and extensive agro-pastoral systems. In these systems, humans are regularly infected and often endure a chronic and debilitating illness. Clearly, according to this information, brucellosis surveillance and control in livestock population and

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Brucellosis is a zoonotic infection that commonly affects cattle in Ethiopia, causing significant negative economic impact. A cross-sectional study was carried out between November 2020 and November 2021 in southwest Ethiopia to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its associated risk factors in cattle herds. Blood samples were taken from 461 randomly selected cattle to test for the presence of Brucella antibodies using the Rose Bengal Plate test, with positive serum confirmed through the complement fixation test. A multivariable random effect logistic regression analysis was used to identify potential risk factors for Brucella seropositivity. The study found 7.14% (95% CI: 4.44–9.01) seroprevalence at the animal level and 12.23% (95% CI: 6.52–16.05) at the herd level based on the complement fixation test. Age (OR = 6.9, 95%CI: 1.83–15.97), herd size (OR = 3.66, 95%CI: 1.39–9.61), introducing new animals (OR = 2.72, 95%CI: 1.17–6.29), management system (OR = 12.2, 95%CI: 1.53–26.80), species composition (OR = 4.24, 95%CI: 1.51–11.91), and abortion (OR = 7.1, 95%CI: 1.93–15.39) were found to be associated with Brucella seropositivity. The analysis also revealed two risk factors for Brucella infection at the herd level, including herd size (OR = 3.4, 95% CI: 1.05–10.68) and species composition (OR = 3.1, 95% CI: 1.20–7.88). The presence of Brucella antibodies in cattle highlights the need for increased awareness and measures to mitigate the identified risk factors of the disease to prevent its spread. Furthermore, further studies are necessary to investigate the zoonotic transmission of brucellosis to humans and its role in cattle reproduction disorders in the study area.
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The study was carried out on six villages in northern Egypt to evaluate the epidemiological situation of bovine brucellosis among 989 unvaccinated household cattle by Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and indirect ELISA (iELISA) and to investigate the existence of Brucella DNA using real-time PCR in 100 milk and 100 sera from seropositive cattle and 50 sera from seronegative cattle. The overall seroprevalence was 20.7% and 23.7% by RBPT and iELISA, respectively. Based on the iELISA results, the seroprevalence was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the village II (34.7%) and cattle > 7 years (30.1%). More males than females were non-significant seropositive (P = 0.6). There was 95% agreement between RBPT and iELISA, although iELISA showed a higher positivity rate (23.7%, 95% CI: 0.21–0.26) than RBPT (20.7%, 95% CI: 0.18–0.24). DNA of Brucella was confirmed in 16 milk samples by IS711 qPCR from seropositive cattle, however, no Brucella DNA was detected in serum samples tested positive and negative. Brucella abortus was the only species detected based on the alkB gene. Prevalence is highly related to the sampling site and the age of the animals. In conclusion, although qPCR is more accurate and commonly used in the diagnosis of most infectious diseases but in this situation iELISA is preferred and recommended for continuous screening and animal movement restriction and vaccination protocols, especially in high-risk areas.
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Small ruminant brucellosis is renowned to hinder the production performances in small ruminants through morbidity and reproductive losses (abortion, still birth and low flock fertility). Though the disease is being underreported in small ruminants and information on its epidemiology is so limited in Africa, reviewed literature show that it is a widespread problem in sub-Saharan Africa (McDermott and Arimi, 2002; Ducrotoy et al., 2017). The economic impact of the disease in small ruminants is also not well established in the region.
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Brucellosis in sub-Saharan Africa: epidemiology, control and impact

Abstract

Section snippets

Background

Epidemiology in animals

Control programs

Economic impact

The way forward

Acta Trop.

Acta Trop.

Prev. Vet. Med.

Prev. Vet. Med.

Acta Trop.

Prev. Vet. Med.

Prev. Vet. Med.

Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg.

Prev. Vet. Med.

Br. Vet. J.

Vet. Micro.

Prev. Vet. Med.

Acta Trop.

Isolation of Brucella abortus from experimentally infected dromedary camels in Sudan: a preliminary report

Vet. Res. Commun.

Serological evidence of brucellosis among predisposed patients with pyrexia of unknown origin in northeastern Nigeria

Cent. Eur. J. Public Health

Productivity and health of camels (Camerius dromedarius) in Somalia: association with trypanosomiasis and brucellosis

Trop. Anim. Health Prod.

A prevalence study of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis in Malawi

Prev. Vet. Med.

Brucellosis in sheep and goats in central Ethiopia

Bull. Anim. Health Prod. Afr.

The prevalence of brucellosis in indigenous cattle in central Ethiopia

Bull. Anim. Health Prod. Afr.

A brucellosis serological survey of beef cattle slaughtered at Cato Ridge, abattoir

J. S. Afr. Vet. Assoc.

The incidence of Brucella ovis in some Kenya flocks and its relationship to clinical lesions and semen quality

Vet. Rec.

Incidence clinique de la brucellose dans le nord de la Côte d’Ivoire

Rev. Elev. Med. Vet. Pays Trop.

A serological survey for brucellosis in buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in the Kruger national park

J. S. Afr. Vet. Assoc.

Brucellosis in Africa. Part 1. The prevalence

Bull. Anim. Health Prod. Afr.

Brucellosis in Africa. Part 2. The importance

Bull. Anim. Health Prod. Afr.

Antibodies to Brucellae in the sera of healthy persons in various parts of Nigeria

West Afr. Med. J.

The isolation of Brucella abortus from a waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)

Vet. Rec.

Brucellosis in Rhodesian wildlife

J. S. Afr. Vet. Assoc.

Brucellosis—a survey in south Karamoja

East Afr. Med. J.

La brucellose en Afrique centrale. 1

Rev. Elev. Med. Vet. Pays Trop.

La brucellose bovine en Afrique centrale 111.-Resultats statistiques des enquues menees au Tchad et au Cameroun

Rev. Elev. Med. Vet. Pays Trop.

Bovine brucellosis in central Africa. VI. Identification and typing of isolated strains in Chad and Cameroon

Rev. Elev. Med. Vet. Pays Trop.

Bovine brucellosis in the Highveld veterinary region: a preliminary report on the seroprevalence of brucellosis among adult beef cows in the region

J. S. Afr. Vet. Assoc.

Brucella sero-activity in Somali goats

Trop. Anim. Health Prod.

The Rose Bengal plate agglutination test in dairy cattle in Zambia vaccinated over age with strain 19

Trop. Anim. Health Prod.

Sero-prevalence of selected cattle diseases in the Kafue flats in central Zambia

Vet. Res. Commun.

The isolation of Brucella abortus biotype 1 from African buffalo in the Kruger national park

J. S. Afr. Vet. Assoc.

The isolation of Brucella suis from rodents in Kenya

East Afr. Med. J.

Bovine brucellosis among two different cattle populations in Bahr el Ghazal Province of southern Sudan

Trop. Parasitol.

Brucellosis in childhood in Western Cape

S. Afr. Med. J.

The economics of the delivery of veterinary services

Rev. Sci. Tech. Off. Int. Epiz.

A survey of brucellosis in the southern parts of Somalia Democratic Republic. A comparative study of prevalence of the disease in farm animals and animals from nomadic herds

Bull. Anim. Health Prod. Afr.

Variation in the prevalence of antibodies to Brucella infection in cattle by farm, area and district in Kenya