Abstract
Camels are increasingly becoming the livestock of choice for pastoralists reeling from effects of climate change in semi-arid and arid parts of Kenya. As the population of camels rises, better understanding of their role in the epidemiology of zoonotic diseases in Kenya is a public health priority. Rift Valley fever (RVF), brucellosis and Q fever are three of the top priority diseases in the country but the involvement of camels in the transmission dynamics of these diseases is poorly understood. We analyzed 120 camel serum samples from northern Kenya to establish seropositivity rates of the three pathogens and to characterize the infecting Brucella species using molecular assays. We found seropositivity of 24.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.5–31.8%) for Brucella, 20.8% (95% CI: 13.6–28.1%) and 14.2% (95% CI: 7.9–20.4%) for Coxiella burnetii and Rift valley fever virus respectively. We found 27.5% (95% CI: 19.5–35.5%) of the animals were seropositive for at least one pathogen and 13.3% (95% CI: 7.2–19.4%) were seropositive for at least two pathogens. B. melitensis was the only Brucella spp. detected. The high sero-positivity rates are indicative of the endemicity of these pathogens among camel populations and the possible role the species has in the epidemiology of zoonotic diseases. Considering the strong association between human infection and contact with livestock for most zoonotic infections in Kenya, there is immediate need to conduct further research to determine the role of camels in transmission of these zoonoses to other livestock species and humans. This information will be useful for designing more effective surveillance systems and intervention measures.
Highlights
The emergence of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 and the subsequent detection of the virus in dromedary camels, brought into focus the role of the species as potential reservoirs of endemic and emerging zoonotic diseases in Kenya [1,2,3,4]
We investigated the seroprevalences of RVFV, Brucella spp and Coxiella burnetii and characterized
We analyzed 120 samples collected from 16 camel herds with no history of vaccination against brucellosis, Coxiella and RVFV
Summary
The emergence of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 and the subsequent detection of the virus in dromedary camels, brought into focus the role of the species as potential reservoirs of endemic and emerging zoonotic diseases in Kenya [1,2,3,4]. The burden and transmission dynamics of zoonotic diseases in Kenyan camels are poorly understood This has led to the perception of low burden of camel diseases, the consequence of which is continued neglect of the camel industry in resource allocation for disease control and research [8, 9]. Previous studies have identified camels as reservoirs of three of the top priority zoonotic pathogens in Kenya; Brucella spp, Rift Valley fever virus (RVFv) and Coxiella burnetii, but data on infection patterns of these pathogens, and potential co-infections in camels is limited [2, 8, 10]. Camels play an important but underappreciated role in the epidemiology of RVFV, one of the pathogens with the highest exposure levels in Kenyan camels [8]. In addition to the high prevalence rates, high camel mortality rates during RVF outbreaks in Kenya and the association of camels with confirmed human RVF cases are indicative of role of camels in the epidemiology of the virus [14,15,16]
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