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. 2013 Dec 16;8(12):e83175.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083175. eCollection 2013.

Seroprevalence and potential risk factors for Brucella spp. infection in traditional cattle, sheep and goats reared in urban, periurban and rural areas of Niger

Abdou Razac Boukary  1 , Claude Saegerman  2 , Emmanuel Abatih  3 , David Fretin  4 , Rianatou Alambédji Bada  5 , Reginald De Deken  3 , Halimatou Adamou Harouna  6 , Alhassane Yenikoye  7 , Eric Thys  3
Affiliations

Seroprevalence and potential risk factors for Brucella spp. infection in traditional cattle, sheep and goats reared in urban, periurban and rural areas of Niger

Abdou Razac Boukary et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: In Niamey, Niger, interactions within the interface between animals, humans and the environment induce a potential risk of brucellosis transmission between animals and from animals to humans. Currently, little is known about the transmission of Brucella in this context.

Results: 5,192 animals from 681 herds were included in the study. Serum samples and hygroma fluids were collected. A household survey enabled to identify the risk factors for transmission of brucellosis. The true adjusted herd-level prevalence of brucellosis ranged between 11.2% and 17.2% and the true adjusted animal-population level prevalence was 1.3% (95% CI: 0.9-1.8%) based on indirect ELISA test for Brucella antibodies. Animals aged of 1-4 years were found to be more susceptible than animals less than 1 year old (Odds ratio [OR] of 2.7; 95% CI: 1.43-5.28). For cattle, the odds of brucellosis seropositivity were higher in rural compared to the periurban areas (OR of 2.8; 95% CI: 1.48-5.17) whereas for small ruminants the risk of seropositivity appeared to be higher in urban compared to periurban areas (OR of 5.5; 95% CI: 1.48-20.38). At herd level, the risk of transmission was increased by transhumance (OR of 5.4; 95% CI: 2.84-10.41), the occurrence of abortions (OR of 3.0; 95% CI: 1.40-6.41), and for herds having more than 50 animals (OR of 11.0; 95% CI: 3.75-32.46). Brucella abortus biovar 3 was isolated from the hygromas.

Conclusion: brucellosis in Niger is a serious problem among cattle especially in the rural areas around Niamey and among sheep in the urban areas of Niamey. The seroprevalence varies across strata and animal species with important risk factors including herd size, abortion and transhumance at herd level and age at animal population level. For effective control of brucellosis, an integrated approach seems appropriate involving all stakeholders working in public and animal health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Location of the study areas in Niger.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Clustering analysis of a field strain of Brucella abortus 3 from Niger (Queried_Strain) with field and reference strains in the Brucella multiple loci variable number tandem repeats analysis (MLVA) database (MVLABANK, 2012) using panels 1 and 2.
The data are given in columns from left to right: year of isolation and ‘alias’.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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