Seroprevalence of Sheep Brucellosis in Ad-Damar Locality in River Nile State

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in sheep in Ad- Damar locality in River Nile State, north Sudan. A total number of 384 serum samples were collected from sheep that were conveniently and/ or randomly selected. All collected samples were screened using Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT). RBPT-positive samples plus a number of randomly selected negative reactors (n = 15) were tested by Serum tube agglutination test (SAT) and Indirect enzyme-linked immune- sorbent assay (i-ELISA) in parallel . A survey using a questionnaire was conducted to collect the required epidemiological data. The estimated overall sero-prevalence was found to be 0.78% (3/384, 95% CI from .97 to 1.0) by Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) ,Furthermoreserum tube agglutination test (SAT) and Indirect enzyme-linked immune- sorbent assay (i-ELISA) confirmed the positivity of 3 samples (0.78%) (Table 1 and 3). Thepotential risk factors associated with the prevalence of sheep brucellosis included : Breeds, Age, Body condition, sex while herd size, herds were mixed or not, indoor or outdoor housing , having previous illness or not, presence of dogs in the herds or not, water source, having aborted animals in the herd or not were the management risk factors. Univariate analysis using chi- square, with a confidence interval of 95% at a p-value of ≤0.05 was employed to investigate the association between the risk factors and the prevalence of sheep brucellosis,which in turn showed that age was associated with the prevalence of sheep brucellosis (OR.1.08, CI.0.97-0.1, P-value. <0.004), But none of the other individual or management risk factors had an effect on the occurrence of brucellosis in sheep in Ad- damar locality, neither for RBPT- nor for SAT and ELIZA sero-positive statuses. It can be concluded that brucellosis is prevalent in low rate in Ad- damar locality which requires more attention and effort are needed to educate sheep owners/herders about brucellosis as well as about the importance of vaccination should be made to implement procedures and regulation to control and eradicate the disease.