Brucellosis in small ruminants : a seroprevalence study in peri-urban farming around the region of Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Sammanfattning: The mountainous Central Asian and former Soviet country Tajikistan is the least advantaged country economically among the former Soviet Union states. Approximately 6.5 % of the land is arable in a country where roughly 80 % of the households typically own small numbers of sheep and goats. Management practices and animal husbandry in the villages such as uncontrolled breeding, mixing of animals on pastures favor transmission of infectious diseases. Brucellosis is a zoonotic bacterial disease caused by Brucella spp. The disease is endemic in Tajikistan. B. melitensis causes disease primary among sheep and goats. An important clinical sign amongst animal is abortion during the last third of pregnancy. Aims of the current study were to, 1) describe the farm structure of peri-urban located villages around the capital Dushanbe. 2) To investigate the seroprevalence of brucellosis in sheep and goats from small households in peri-urban villages in four districts around Dushanbe. Sera were collected from 908 animals (329 sheep and 579 goats respectively). Samples were tested for antibodies to Brucella spp. by i-ELISA. All positive or suspicious positive samples were tested with Brucella-Ab c-ELISA. Homogenous animal husbandry and management practises were observed with most farmers owning a small number of sheep and goats (<20) and the commingling of animals occurred frequently. Inadequate use of vaccination, mixing of animals, common summer pastures, the high number of small households, and poor knowledge among owners about brucellosis were all risk factors for brucellosis present in several of the villages The study showed evidence of infection among sheep and goats with Brucella spp. An overall seroprevalence of 9.5 % in the study area was observed. A large variation in seroprevalence between the districts and also between villages was seen, indicating a difference in spatial distribution of seropositive animals. A higher seroprevalence was observed in sheep than in goats and the majority of seropositive sheep and goats were between four and five years old.