Survey of antibodies to Rift Valley fever virus and associated risk factors in one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) slaughtered in Maiduguri abattoir, Borno State, Nigeria.

Hassan Ismail Musa,Shuaibu Gidado Adamu,Sani Mohammed,Abdulyeken Olawale Tijjani,Saleh Mohammed Jajere,Abubakar Sadiq Muhammad,Adamu Saleh Saidu,Caleb Ayuba Kudi,Muhammad Mamman Gashua

doi:10.1007/s11250-021-02956-0

Hassan Ismail Musa, Shuaibu Gidado Adamu + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-021-02956-0

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Abstract

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an emerging mosquito-borne zoonosis that threatens public health and animal agriculture in the endemic areas causing devastating epizootics characterized by abortion storms and high mortalities, especially in newborn animals. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and investigate risk factors associated with exposure to the virus in camels slaughtered in Maiduguri abattoir, Borno State of Nigeria. Camels presented for slaughtered were sampled and data on age, sex, source or origin, utility, presence of post-mortem lesions, body weights and body condition score were collected. Blood samples were collected and sera were harvested and stored at - 20°C until tested. The sera were tested using a commercial ELISA kit based on the manufacturer's instructions. The overall seroprevalence in the study was 20.7% (95% CI, 13.6-30.0). The analysis showed no significant differences between the presence of antibodies and variables that included the sex of camels (χ2 = 0.015, df = 1, p = 0.904) and the presence of post-mortem lesion on the carcass (χ2 = 0.009, df = 1, p = 0.925). There were significant differences between presence of antibodies and three variables that included the age (χ2 = 4.89, df = 1, p = 0.027), the source (χ2 = 7.077, df = 2, p = 0.029) and the main utility (χ2 = 8.057, df = 3, p = 0.045) of the camels. It was concluded that camels presented for slaughter at the Maiduguri abattoir have evidence of exposure to the RVF virus and maybe means of transmission of the virus. Regular monitoring and control of transboundary animal movements were recommended in the study area.

Highlights

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an emerging mosquito-borne zoonotic disease that threatens public health and animal agriculture in Africa and the Middle East
The distribution of all the sampled camels based on the serological test for antibodies to RVF virus showed that 19 (20.7%) were positive while 73 (79.3%) were negative
The 20.7% seroprevalence reported in this study is observed to relatively higher than the 5.3% reported in livestock handlers (Opayele et al, 2018) and the 0.7% (Opayele et al, 2019) among livestock slaughtered in Bodija Municipal abattoir in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria

Summary

Introduction

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an emerging mosquito-borne zoonotic disease that threatens public health and animal agriculture in Africa and the Middle East. The causative agent, the RVF virus is listed as a select agent with significant potential for international spread and use in bioterrorism and has been responsible for widespread and devastating outbreaks of severe disease throughout Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (Bird et al, 2009). The epidemiology of the disease is very complex and involves multiple players that include mosquito, wild animals, domesticated livestock and humans (Bukbuk et al, 2014). Epidemics of the disease are usually linked to persistent heavy rainfalls that favour the multiplication of its mosquito vectors (Linthicum et al, 2016). During the inter-epidemic period, the virus is primarily maintained by circulating at low levels among wildlife, livestock, and humans, transmitted by mosquito vectors (Kariuki Njenga and Bett, 2019)

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