SEROPREVALENCE OF SMALL RUMINANT BRUCELLOSIS AND ITS PUBLIC HEALTH AWARENESS IN SELECTED TWO DISTRICTS OF AFAR REGION, ETHIOPIA
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2014-06
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Abstract
Between Nov. 2013 and Apr.2014, a serological study was conducted on small ruminants to determine the prevalence of brucellosis, identify risk factors and its public health implication. A total of 1190 blood samples collected from sheep and goat populations in Chifra and Ewa woredas (876 caprine and 314 ovine), 155 (13%) tested positive using mRBPT. Further testing of the positive reactors with CFT confirmed that 147(12.35%) samples were positive for brucella infection. The results revealed that among the risk factors considered in the analysis, species, sex, age, parity number and flock size had statistically significant effect on seropositivity (p<0.05). Woreda had no statistically significant effect on seropositivity (p>0.05). The individual animal level seroprevalence was significantly higher in goats (14.4%) than in sheep (6.7%) populations. The analysis revealed that goats were more than 2 times (OR=2.34) at risk of getting infected with brucella than sheep. The seroprevalence was also significantly higher in female animals (13.8%) than in males (6.5%) with the likelihood of female animals to get infected with brucellosis is higher than that of males. Similarly, Brucella seroprevalence was also significantly increased with age; the odds of seropositivity in older animals are 2.36 times higher than that of younger animals. Seroprevalence rate of brucellosis was also significantly varied with parity, with the likelihood of infection being 2.038 times higher in animals with 3 to 4 parities than otherwise. Regarding flock size individual animal sero-prevalence was higher in larger flocks than in the smaller ones (OR=0.68). Almost all the respondents in the studied areas were not aware of brucellosis as a disease affecting different species of livestock (91.1%) although all of them recognized the existence of abortion among small ruminant flocks and most of them handle abortion materials with bare hand without protecting themselves (82.2%). The habit of drinking raw milk is practiced by the majority of the respondents 45 (100%) while there is no habit of consuming raw meat. Poor awareness of the zoonotic importance of brucellosis and the practices of consuming raw milk and handling potentially infectious materials using bare hands pose a serious danger to small ruminant owners. Finally, this study demonstrated that small ruminant brucellosis is highly prevalent in the study districts. Hence, it is suggested that there is a need for planning and implementation of joint programs by stakeholders in prevention and control of the disease as well as raising public health awareness.
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Afar region, Brucellosis, Small ruminants, CFT, Public health, RBPT, Zoonoses