Seroprevalence Of Brucella Knowledge And Practices Of Small Ruminant Stakeholders In Kaduna North And South Local Government Areas Kaduna State Nigeria

Brucellosis is an infectious disease of domestic and wild animals and one of the commonestzoonosis caused by a facultative, Gram-negative, coccobacilli and intracellular bacteria ofthe genus Brucella. A seroprevalence survey of Brucella, knowledge and practices of smallruminants stakeholders was carried out in Kaduna North and South LGAs of Kaduna State,Nigeria. A total of 1,256 serum samples from 696 goats and 560 sheep were used toevaluate for Brucella antibodies using Modified Rose Bengal Plate Test (M-RBPT) with B.melitensis antigen and Serum Agglutination Test with ethylene diaminotetraacetic acid(SAT-EDTA). Also, 66 structured questionnaires were used to determine the knowledge andpractices of livestock owners in the study areas. Similarly, 54 structured questionnaires werealso administered to human medical professionals to determine their knowledge ofbrucellosis in humans. The result revealed a Brucella seroprevalence of 8.49 % and 14.85%by M–RBPT and SAT–EDTA in respectively goats, and 9.11% and 17.12% by M–RBPTand SAT–EDTA in respectively sheep. The seroprevalence varied between the two LGAsand between goats and sheep in each LGA. In goats a seroprevalence of 15.12% wasrecorded in Kaduna North LGA while 14.5% seroprevalence of was recorded for KadunaSouth LGA using SAT–EDTA. The difference in seroprevalence between goats and sheepwas not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Of the 66 structured questionnaires for the livestock owners, 49 (74.24 %) of the respondents indicated having knowledge aboutbrucellosis in animals and of this number, 2 (3.03 %) indicated the media as source of theirinformation (knowledge) of the disease, while 27 (40.91 %) and 19 (28.79 %) other respondents indicated their source of knowledge of brucellosis in animals to be farmers andveterinary professionals respectively.All the 54 (100%) human medical profession personnel’s interviewed indicated havingheard of brucellosis in humans but none of them (0%) had ever encountered the disease inthe course of their practice. Regarding knowledge of brucellosis as zoonotic, 42 (77.78%) ofthe human medical professionals reported knowing brucellosis as a zoonotic disease. Inaddition 40 (74.10%) of the human medical professionals indicated knowing brucellosis tocause abortion in humans. This study revealed that Brucella organism is circulating in smallruminants in the study areas, and also, there is awareness of the disease problem in animalsand human beings by the livestock owners and human medical professionals in the studyareas. Policy makers in both the human and livestock sectors therefore, need to embark onmeasures to prevent the occurrence as well as the spread of brucellosis among animals andsubsequent transmission to the human populace.

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