Prevalence of Brucella Antibodies in goats and the practices of farmers regarding Brucellosis in Wukari, Taraba State Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonosis with devastating public health significance. It causes serious economic losses in livestock production manifesting as abortion, infertility and low milk yield. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Brucella antibodies in goats and the practices of farmers regarding Brucellosis in Wukari L.G.A Taraba State. Methods & Materials: Using convenience sampling, a cross-sectional approach was employed to sample 386 goats by jugular venipuncture in three Political Wards; Puje, Avyi and Hospital. Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) was used to screen the sera harvested by centrifugation. A total of 176 structured questionnaires were administered to goat owners to know their practices as regard Brucellosis. Data analysis was done using Pearson's Chi-square and values of P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The RBPT revealed a seroprevalence of 15%, 6.6% and 7.6% in Puje, Avyi and Hospital wards respectively. Age-specific seroprevalence yielded 2.8%, 8%, 18.7%, and 1% for < 20 months, 22-35 months, 36-45 months and ≥46-55 months age categories respectively with a statistically significant association (P < 0.05). Male goats had 9.5% seroprevalence while female had 9.8%. Red Sokoto, Kano Brown, Sahel and West Africa Dwarf Goat had 12%, 12.8%, 11.6%, 5.4% and 7.4% seropositivity respectively. Only 10.5% and 11.6% of the goats sourced from the market and Inherited were positive for Brucella antibodies respectively. Fifty-one of the respondents had experienced abortion in their herds while one hundred and twenty-five had not; 6 (11.8%) and 13 (10.4%) of these were positive for Brucella antibodies respectively. Only 11.6% and 10.5% were positive for Brucella antibodies from the herds that had the history of retained placenta and herds that had not respectively. Conclusion: There is an evidence of Brucellosis (9.6%) in Wukari L.G.A, Taraba State and the practices of goat owners, as regards the disease is poor. There is a need to enlighten the public on the zoonotic potentials of Brucellosis.