Study on Bovine Brucellosis in Cattle Slaughtered at Addis Ababa and Sululta Abattoirs with Focus on Occupational Hazard
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Date
2006-06
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Addis Ababa University Faculty Of Veterinary Medicine
Abstract
A cross - sec ti onal study was ca rri ed out at the Addis Ababa and S ululta abaHoi rs to
investigate the status o f bov ine brucellosis and to assess the occupational ha za rd a ssociated
with brucellosis in abatt oi r work e rs. The work was condu c ted from Septe mber 2005 \0
March 2006.
The study methodology cons isted of sc roprcvalcnce st udy o n both cattle slaught ered at the
abauoirs and also on humans wo rking in th e aba lt oirs. Ri sk fac to rs we re a lso assessed both
in cattle and humans. Addi tiona ll y. quest ionnaire surveys wcre condu cted on abattoir
workers.
\ total of 150 I cattlc. 759 from Addis Ababa abalto ir and 742 from Sululta aballo lf were
Included in this stud y. Blood sa mples were collected from 1304 male and 197 female cattle
Qut of the total of 1501 cattle slaughtered in th e abattoirs, 1398 \\ere local and ]03
crossbred callie. In addition. 67 abattoir workers from 5ulult<l aballolr \\ere abo
participated In the stud}.
Serum samples collected from both call ie and abattoir workers were scre ened usmg th e
Rose Bengal Plate Test ( RBPT). Positive sera were further subjected to the Complement
Fn.ation Test (CFT) to maximize specificity and predictive value. All the subsequent te;)t
,
analyses were based on the sera that were positive to both the RBPT and CFT. The z· tests
and logistiC regression were used to test the association bel\\ cen risk factors and
SeropoSII1\I1). Tilt.: 1.2. and OR ,·alues '~erc calculated lIsine Ihe computer SOft'\,HC
program STATA.
The overallllldividual animal prevalence of brucellos is in s laughtered cattle \\as I 13 °0. (11
17) . The abattOir level seroprevalencc was 1 19°0 (n 9) and 10 % (0 8) for AddIS
Ababa and Sululta abatto irs respective ly. Significant difference in seroposillvity \\as not
observed between the two abattoirs ( P = 0.844).
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A highly significant difTerence in seroposi ti vity was observed between male and female ( P
= 0.011) and between local and crossbred ( P = 0.0 12) cattlc. Difference in seropsitivity
between the two age categories was not observed (P = 1.0 0). T hus genotype (breed) and se x
were identified as important risk facto rs associated with seropositi vi ty in s laughtered ca llie
and ma y pose potential occupatio nal ha zard for abattoir workers.
All th e se ra (n 67) obtained from Sulu lta abattoir worke rs were found nega ti ve for the
presence of Brucella antibodies. On Ih e ba sis of questionnaire s urveys, co nsum pti o n of ra\\
meaL frequent cutting of hands and fin ge rs at work and lack of kn owledge about
brucellosis and it s 700notic impact were ide ntllied as poten ti al ri s k factors that may
predi spose th e aba ll O]r wo rkers to th e disease.
In conclusion, the present work gene rall y showed low sero prevalence of brucellos is among
ca ttl e slaughtered in Addis Ababa and Sululta abattoirs and none in human s. lI owever, ]n
view of questionnaire survey a nd the assoc iated po tent]al risk fac tors, c reation of awareness
about the occu pational ha7ard and public healt h significance of brucellos]s. ado ptIon of
basIc hy gie ni c measures among abattoIr workers. proper identification of anllllab brought
for slaughte r and th e condu ct of funher st udI es, es pec]ally 0 11 export oriented abattoirs. arc
recommended.
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Keywords
Brucellosis. Zoonosis. Occupational I lazard, Ri sk factors. RBPT, e FT. abatt oIr workers