Sero-prevalence and Epidemiological Risk Factors of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Unvaccinated Cattle in West Darfur State - Sudan

Abstract

A cross-sectional study conducted during May to June 2015 in West Darfur state of Sudan. The objectives were to determine the sero-prevalence of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in unvaccinated local cattle and the potential risk factors associated with the disease. Antibodies against non-structural protein of FMD virus using NSP ELISA measured as an indicator of exposure to the virus. From the total 313 blood sera tested, the overall sero-prevalence of FMD was 43.5% (n=136/313). The highest sero-prevalence was observed at Forbaranga locality 63.5% followed by Habeila 50.0%., Baidha 41.9%, Keranic 32.8% and Elgeinana locality 29.7%. A total of 11 risk factors were investigated using structured questionnaire, of which 6 were found to be associated with FMD sero-prevalence (p≤0.05). The sero-prevalence of FMD in different age groups was 70.9%, 53.8%, 60.0%, 58.8%, 21.1%, and 22.3% in-group of cattle aged older than 5 years, 5 years, 4 years, between 3 to 4 years, between 2 to 3 years and less than 2 years, respectively. Sero-positivity significantly varied with Locality site of cattle. Cattle from southern parts locality had significantly higher sero-prevalence than northern locality cattle. In conclusion, the associated 6 factors were further analyzed multivariably by logistic regression, and finally 4 of them (locality, location, sex, and age groups) were found to be significantly associated with FMD sero-prevalence (p≤0.05). The result of this study showed that FMD is an important cattle disease in the study area necessitating further investigation and characterization of the circulating virus serotype to apply effective control and prevention measures.