Seroprevalence of caprine brucellosis in Karnataka

D Avinash Reddy,Gita Kumari,P Pavan Kumar,S Rajagunalan,D K Singh,Ashok Kumar

doi:10.14202/vetworld.2014.182-188

Abstract

Aim: To study the seroprevalence of caprine bruellosis in Karnataka and compare the relative sensitivity and specificity among the different serological tests used. Materials and Methods: A total of 252 serum samples were collected from the goats of Karnataka and subjected to 5 different serological tests, i.e., Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT), Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT), 2-mercaptoethanol test (2MET), Indirect ELISA (I-ELISA) and Dot-ELISA to detect the Brucella antibodies. Results: Test-wise, the seroprevalence in goats was 5.15% by RBPT, 6.34% by STAT, 1.98% by 2-MET, 9.52% by I-ELISA and 7.14% by Dot-ELISA. The prevalence of brucellosis was found to be highest among goats of northeast Karnataka followed by northwest Karnataka, central Karnataka and south Karnataka. I-ELISA detected maximum number of positive samples. Conclusions: The study used five serological tests to determine the apparent seroprevalence of caprine brucellosis in Karnataka. Taking I-ELISA as reference, the tests revealed the relative sensitivity values in the following order: DotELISA>STAT>RBPT>2-MET.

Highlights

Brucellosis is a major bacterial zoonosis of global, economic and public health significance, which poses a serious threat to the livestock economy
The most incontrovertible method of diagnosis for brucellosis is by isolation and identification [4] of the organism though it has some limitations like low sensitivity, health risk to laboratory personnel, time of sample collection and type of sample collected
A large number of serological tests are available for diagnosis of brucellosis of which Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT), Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT) and Complement Fixation Test (CFT) have been used extensively to diagnose brucellosis in animals

Summary

Introduction

Brucellosis is a major bacterial zoonosis of global, economic and public health significance, which poses a serious threat to the livestock economy. Caprine brucellosis due to Brucella melitensis which is widespread in India is a major cause of abortion in goats and accounts for large number of human brucellosis cases [1, 2], the source of infection for man being occupational exposure during handling of unconfirmed cases of abortions and consumption of goat milk containing B. melitensis [3]. A large number of serological tests are available for diagnosis of brucellosis of which Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT), Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT) and Complement Fixation Test (CFT) have been used extensively to diagnose brucellosis in animals. 90% of the brucellosis cases are said to be associated with B. melitensis due to its high virulence

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