Sero-prevalence of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in bulls originated from Borena pastoral area of Southern Ethiopia.

Abstract

Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a highly infectious cattle disease, which is widespread in pastoral areas of Africa, and it imposes a major problem on Ethiopian livestock export market. Cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011 on bulls originated from Borena pastoral area to determine seroprevalence of CBPP. Forty batches of bulls containing 38,187 Borana bulls were tested using c-ELISA. Of the total 40 batches tested for the presence of antibodies, 25 (62.5%) of them contained at least one seropositive bull. From the total of 38,187 bulls tested, 150 (0.4%) bulls were positive. The number of seropositive animals increases as the herd size increases (P < 0.05). Both at herd and individual level, the highest CBPP prevalence was recorded in herd size >1000, and the difference was found statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was statistically significant (χ (2) = 23.73, df = 9, P = 0.005) difference of CBPP prevalence between months of the year. The present low prevalence of CBPP in the cattle feedlots indicates that the disease is decreasing progressively in Borena pastoral area, this might be associated with the ongoing mass vaccination campaign against economically important livestock diseases in pastoral areas. The decrease in the prevalence of CBPP offered a great opportunity to livestock producers and live animal and meat exporters by improving the demand of Ethiopian livestock on international market. Regular reintroduction of infected cattle from neighboring countries or herds where the disease remains endemic may change the disease dynamics again. Therefore, mass blanket vaccinations coupled with prompt diagnosis, isolation and stamping out of the outbreaks, intensive surveillance, followed by strict cattle movement control should be implemented by concerned parties.