Seroprevalence of Brucellosis and Associated Risk Factors among Indigenous Breeds of Goats in Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract

Across-sectional study was conducted in Wukari, Taraba state, Nigeria, to determine the prevalence of Brucella antibodies and the risk factors associated with brucellosis in indigenous breeds of goats. A total of 386 goats were sampled from three political wards Puje, Avyi, and Hospital: harvested sera samples were subjected to Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT).Graph Pad Prism version7.03 for Windows(Graph Pad Software, LaJolla California, USA) wasusedtoanalyse the association between seroprevalence of brucellosis and age, sex, breed, location, and management system by using Chi square and Fisher’s exact test as appropriate. Brucellosis wasdetectedinallthreewards:Puje;15%,Avyi;6.6%,andHospital;7.6%.Aprevalencerateof2.8%,8%,18.7%,and1%wasrecorded for <20-month, 22-35-month, 36-45-month, and ≥46-55-month age categories, respectively (P < 0.05). Only 9.5% was observed for male animals while 9.8% was observed for female animals with no statistical difference between the males and females. Breed specific seroprevalence yielded 7.4%, 5.4% 12%, 12.8%, and 11.6%, for Cross, West Africa Dwarf, Red Sokoto, Kano Brown, and Sahel breeds of goat, respectively. There is an evidence of brucellosis (9.6%) in Wukari L.G.A, Taraba State, and age is a risk factor for the disease in the study area. There is a need to enlighten the public on the zoonotic potentials and economic impacts of brucellosis.