Abstract
A survey involving 120 small-scale dairy farmers was carried out to assess risk factors associated with brucellosis in cattle from selected sectors of Nyagatare District, Rwanda. A sample of cattle from nine selected sectors of Nyagatare was tested for brucellosis using the Rose Bengal Test. Of the respondents, 57.5% were unaware of brucellosis as a disease, 85.8% did not screen new additions to the herd for brucellosis and 82.5% did not remove brucellosis seropositive animals from the herd. The prevalence of brucellosis in herds with cows with no history of abortion was 38.5% and 17.0% in those with a history of abortion. None of the respondents disinfected abortion sites or vaccinated against brucellosis. The prevalence of brucellosis in cows with a history of retained placenta was 36% and 2% in those with no history of retained placenta. Of the respondents, 62.5% reportedly fed foetal membranes to dogs. About 65.8% of the respondents with brucellosis-positive animals reported a calving interval longer than 1 year. Katabagemu (28.6%) had the highest prevalence of brucellosis seropositivity while Karama had none. Brucellosis in cows (21.4%) was significantly higher than that in heifers (12.8%) (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between heifers and bulls or between bulls and cows (p > 0.05). The occurrence of brucellosis in herds with 40–70 cattle (26.9%) was significantly greater than the 14.9% of herds with 10–39 cattle (p < 0.05). Seropositivity to brucellosis in cross-breed cattle (23.6%) was significantly greater than that in indigenous cattle (13.8%) (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the overall prevalence of brucellosis in cattle from different grazing systems (p > 0.05). Seropositivity to brucellosis was significantly different (p < 0.05) between the fourth parity (32.5%) and first parity (14.3%) cows. The findings in this study confirmed the existence of brucellosis as a problem in Nyagatare and the authors recommend that farmer education on the epidemiology, risk factors and mitigation of the disease be undertaken as a matter of urgency.
Highlights
Bovine brucellosis has been eradicated in many developed countries but remains endemic in the developing world as a result of, among other factors, lack of resources and/or control programmes (Akinseye et al 2016)
The aim of this study was to analyse the risk factors associated with brucellosis in cattle from selected sectors of Nyagatare District, Rwanda
The results of this study show that a history of retained placenta and a calving interval of greater than 1 year (Table 1); age, parity and breed of animal (Table 3); and reproductive category of animal (Table 4) were the major animal-related risk factors for brucellosis
Summary
Bovine brucellosis has been eradicated in many developed countries but remains endemic in the developing world as a result of, among other factors, lack of resources and/or control programmes (Akinseye et al 2016). Risk factors for brucellosis can be categorised into animal, management and environmental factors. Management risk factors for brucellosis include production system (intensive or extensive), screening of new arrivals, hygiene, awareness of the disease, vaccination, herd size and breeding practice (De Alencar Mota et al 2016; Makita et al 2011). Environmental factors are mainly associated with agro-ecological location of the animals in either endemic or brucellosis-free locations (Alhaji, Wungak & Bertu 2016; Ogugua et al 2015)
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