Abstract
Anthrax, foot and mouth disease (FMD), haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS), peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and rabies are considered to be endemic in Bangladesh. This retrospective study was conducted to understand the geographic and seasonal distribution of these major infectious diseases in livestock based on data collected through passive surveillance from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2012. Data analysis for this period revealed 5,937 cases of anthrax, 300,333 of FMD, 13,436 of HS, 247,783 of PPR and 14,085 cases of dog bite/rabies. While diseases were reported in almost every district of the country, the highest frequency of occurrence corresponded to the susceptible livestock population in the respective districts. There was no significant difference in the disease occurrences between districts bordering India/Myanmar and non-border districts (p>0.05). Significantly higher (p<0.01) numbers of anthrax (84.5%), FMD (88.3%), HS (84.9%) and dog bite/rabies (64.3%) cases were reported in cattle than any other species. PPR cases were reported mostly (94.8%) in goats with only isolated cases (5.2%) in sheep. The diseases occur throughout the year with peak numbers reported during June through September and lowest during December through April, with significant differences (p<0.01) between the months. The annual usages of vaccines for anthrax, FMD, HS and PPR were only 7.31%, 0.61%, 0.84% and 11.59% of the susceptible livestock population, respectively. Prophylactic vaccination against rabies was 21.16% of cases. There were significant differences (p<0.01) in the administration of anthrax, FMD and HS vaccines between border and non-border districts, but not PPR or rabies vaccines. We recommend that surveillance and reporting of these diseases need to be improved throughout the country. Furthermore, all suspected clinical cases should be confirmed by laboratory examination. The findings of this study can be used in the formulation of more effective disease management and control strategies, including appropriate vaccination policies in Bangladesh.
Highlights
Bangladesh, located in South Asia, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with an estimated 1,033 people/ km2 [1]
The mean reported prevalence rate was highest for peste des petits ruminants (PPR) (14.68%: 95% CI 14.63–14.74%), which was calculated based on the number of goats and sheep examined only, followed by foot and mouth disease (FMD) (6.35%: 6.33–6.37%), dog bite/rabies (0.30%: 0.29–0.30%), haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) (0.28%: 0.28–0.29%) and anthrax (0.13%: 0.12–0.13%)
The case fatality rate (CFR) was highest for cases of dog bite/rabies (24.32%: 95% CI 23.61–25.03%), followed by anthrax (13.49%: 12.62–14.37%), PPR (4.86%: 4.77–4.94%), HS (2.87%: 2.59– 3.16%) and FMD (1.31%: 1.27–1.35%)
Summary
Bangladesh, located in South Asia, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with an estimated 1,033 people/ km2 [1]. It has the highest density of livestock (cattle, goats, sheep and buffaloes) in the world with an estimated 145 large ruminants/km compared with 90 for India and 20 for Brazil [2]. Bangladesh has an estimated 52.8 million livestock, mostly food producing cattle and goats [4]. Despite the significant livestock population, the current production of meat and milk is inadequate to meet current requirements of the human population and respective deficits have been estimated at 85.9% and 73.1% [5]. Rabies has only begun to be addressed as a major public health threat
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