Serological and bacteriological evaluation of brucellosis in milk of small ruminants

Abstract

Brucellosis continues to be a serious infection to human and animal populations in developing countries with detrimental impacts on public health and food animal production. This work aimed to estimate the prevalence of brucellosis in sheep and goats’ raw milk samples at Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq by identifying anti-Brucella antibodies and isolation of Brucella species. A total of 430 raw milk samples (210 sheep milk and 220 goats’ milk) were randomly collected from dairy females during the period from July to December 2019. The results showed an overall prevalence of Brucella antibodies in 12.3% and 10.7% of animals according to MRT and indirect ELISA, respectively. The overall isolation of Brucella species from raw milk samples was 10.0%. The isolated species of Brucella were B. abortus (37.2%) and B. melitensis (62.8%). An observable increase in occurrence during autumn (September to November) was detected, while autumn progress was associated with declining in brucellosis. In conclusion, brucellosis is still a significant public health hazard in Kirkuk Governorate. Based on test performance, the study recommends MRT as a rapid screening test for detecting brucellosis in milk in farms, centres, and dairy factories. Consumers are also recommended to sufficiently pasteurize the milk in order to kill this milk-borne pathogen before consumption.