Abstract
A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Brucella antibodies in Jalingo using the Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and the serum agglutination test (SAT). A total of 90 adult horses that were on zero grazing management system were sampled. The sampling sites were selected based on the availability of horses. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of Brucella antibodies in horses as well as the distribution of the infection according to sex. There was no association of horses seen with other animals. The samples collected comprised of 88 males and 02 female horses from four locations in Jalingo: Barade, Sarkin dawaki, Sintali and Turaki. All the sera samples were subjected to initial screening by RBPT and positive cases were then analyzed with SAT. The overall prevalence of Brucella antibodies was 07 (07.8%) with all positive cases recorded from male horses for RBPT, while none was positive for SAT among the male and female horses. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of horse Brucella antibodies between male and female (P>0.05). Horses in Jalingo are in the four wards identified and were all sampled. Turaki ward recorded the highest prevalence of 13.3%, while Barade Ward had the lowest prevalence with 00.0%. However, there is no significant difference in the prevalence between the male and female (P>0.05). Further studies need to be conducted to determine the involvement of other species and humans. Key words: Horse, Brucellosis, Jalingo, Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT), serum agglutination test (SAT).
Highlights
Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease worldwide causing serious human health problems and substantial economic losses for the livestock industry (Corbel, 1997)
This study indicated that male horses were the ones that were positive for Brucella antibodies with 07 (07.9%) of the 88 male horses’ samples screened with Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT), with no positive case observed in the 02 female horses screened (Table 2)
The result in this study shows that male horses, 07 (07.8%) by RBPT have higher prevalence than female horses 00 (00.0%)
Summary
Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease worldwide causing serious human health problems and substantial economic losses for the livestock industry (Corbel, 1997). The disease is highly contagious in domestic (camel, cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats), wild (deer, elk, bison, zebra) and companion (horses, donkeys, mules and dogs) animals and is one of the most important and widespread zoonosis in the world (Poester et al, 2002). Fistulous withers and poll evil are the most common clinical manifestations in the horse, and associated with a variety of other clinical manifestations, including vertebral osteomyelitis (Collins et al.,1971; Cohn et al, 1992), abortion, infertility (Denny, 1972) and arthritis (Carrigan et al, 1987)
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