Abstract:
ABSTRACT
A cross sectional study was conducted from November 2014 to April 2015 to determine the seroprevalence
of brucellosis in selected sheep and goat product export abattoirs and to assess the
possible association of different epidemiological risk factors with the occurrence of the disease. A
total of 450 sera were collected from goats in those selected export abattoirs, using systematic
random sampling technique. Rose Bengal Plate Test was used as a screening test and detected
1.56% (N=7) of the samples as sero positive. Up on further testing by CFT for confirmation, only
1.11% (N=5) of the samples were positive. In this study there was no statistically significant
relationship observed between the risk factors like age, origin and sex (P>0.05), although higher
prevalence was observed in adults (1.97%), but statistically significant relationship was observed
between sero-prevalence and body condition of animals, where higher prevalence was observed in
poor body conditioned goats (p<0.05). In conclusion even though the overall prevalence observed
in this study was relatively low, the finding still has the capability to indicate the presence of the
disease and the importance of intervention in the areas from which the goats are supplied or
produced as there is risk of spread of the disease which is economically important. The existence of
the disease in those export abattoirs may lead to prohibition of export of slaughtered goats to Middle
East and other countries to preclude risk of zoonosis. This in turn results in loss of income from the
export sector. Therefore, awareness creation for animal owners and implementation of strategic
control measure is necessary to prevent further spread of the disease in the study area.
Keywords: Brucellosis, CFT, Ethiopia, Export abattoirs, Goats, RBPT, Zoonoses, cross sectional
study
