Sero-Prevalence Study of Bovine Brucellosis and Reproductive Problems in Small-scale Dairy Farms of North Shewa, Ethiopia

2016-09-22T08-31-47Z
Source: International Journal of Livestock Research
Mahendra Pal, Dereje Lemu, Shawul Worku, Genene Desta.
Brucellosis is one of the highly infectious major bacterial diseases of animals and humans. A cross sectional study was carried out between January and March 2012 in order to investigate the sero-prevalence of bovine brucellosis, reproductive problems of dairy cows, and the associated risk factors in North Shewa, Ethiopia. The study population comprised of lactating crossbreed cows managed under small scale dairy farms. Sera samples collected aseptically from 384 cows were screened by Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT). The test result indicated that 3 (0.78%) of cows were found to be positive. These sera were further confirmed by complement fixation test (CFT) and all of them were found to be negative. The questionnaire survey was also administered to 96 households in order to determine the associated risk factors among different age groups, and parity. This study revealed that abortion and retained fetal membrane were found to be the major reproductive problems. The result of chi square analysis showed that there was no significant effect between abortion and retained fetal membranes (RFM), between the age groups, and between parity (P >0.05).The prevalence of abortion and retained fetal membranes were found to be 25 (6.6%) and 31 (8.1%), respectively.The questionnaire results indicated that insufficient animal feeding, poor housing, inadequate veterinary infrastructure and improper management practices were the main causes of low productivity. More effective breeding techniques and reproductive health management should be taken into account in order to improve the fertility of the herd in the study area. Awareness creation and training should be provided to the farming community about the reproductive health problems, improved sanitation, and good hygienic practices. It is emphasized that detailed investigation should be undertaken to elucidate the causes of abortion and retained fetal membranes in the study area. Since brucellosis has public health implications, precautions are needed to prevent the transmission of infection to humans.


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