A sero-epidemiological analysis of Coxiella burnetii infection and its risk factors in livestock from Addis Ababa, Adama, and Modjo abattoirs and pastoral areas of Oromia, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Coxiella burnetii is causing infections in both humans and animals, resulting in Q fever and Coxiellosis, respectively. Information on the occurrence of C. burnetii infection is scarce in Ethiopia. This study estimated the sero-prevalence of C. burnetii infection and associated risk factors in four common livestock species from Addis Ababa, Adama, and Modjo abattoirs and pastoral areas of Oromia, Ethiopia. RESULTS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Sera samples were analyzed for the presence of anti-C. burnetii antibodies using an indirect Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay kit. Out of the 4140 serum samples tested, 777 (18.77%; 95% CI: 17.59, 19.99) were found positive for C. burnetii. The sero-prevalence estimate was 27.17% at Addis Ababa abattoir, 19.41% at Adama abattoir, 19.13% at Modjo abattoir and 12.1% in animals tested from pastoral areas. Sera analysis at the animal species level showed that cattle exhibited the lowest sero-prevalence estimate (11.83%; 95% CI, 10.27-13.53%), while the highest was observed in camels (28.39%; 95% CI, 25.16-31.80%). The sero-prevalence estimate was 21.34% (95% CI, 18.86-23.99%) in goats and 20.17% (95% CI, 17.49-23.07%) in sheep. The results of multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that species, age, sex of animals and tick infestation were important risk factors for C. burnetii infection. The odds of infection were 3.22 times higher in camels and almost twice as high in goats and sheep compared to cattle. Adult animals were infected more likely (OR = 3.23) than young ones. Interestingly, a significant difference was observed in the sero-prevalence of infection between animals that were infested with ticks (OR = 16.32) and those which were tick-free. CONCLUSION: This study provides valuable insights into the sero-epidemiology of C. burnetii infection in four common livestock species at major abattoirs and pastoral areas of Ethiopia. The findings highlight the need for further studies and implementing surveillance and biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of the disease in both humans and livestock to safeguard the economical and public health aspects.

Animal Brucellosis: Seropositivity rates, Isolation and Molecular Detection in Southern and Central Ethiopia.

Introduction: Brucellosis is a neglected bacterial zoonosis with serious veterinary and public health importance throughout the world. A cross-sectional study on animal brucellosis was conducted aiming to estimate seroprevalence and molecular detection. Methods: Blood samples were collected from a total of 4274 individual animals (cattle, small ruminants and camel) from 241 herds/flocks for serology and PCR. Serum samples were tested using multispecies I-ELISA. Blood clots from seropositive animals were also tested for brucellosis via PCR. Additionally, 13 vaginal swab samples were collected from animals (2 from bovine and 11 from small ruminants) with recent abortion history for bacterial isolation and molecular detection. Results: The overall individual animal and herd level seroprevalence was 3.95% (169/4274) and 18.26% (44/241) respectively. The animal level seroprevalence at species level was 1.58% (47/2982), 8.89% (97/1091) and 12.44% (25/201) in bovine, small ruminants (sheep and goat) and camel, respectively. Herd level seroprevalence were 5.43% (10/184), 52.08% (25/48) and 100% (9/9) in bovine, small ruminant and camel, respectively. The animal level seroprevalence of bovine from intensive and extensive systems was 1.10% (31/2808) and 2.87% (5/174) respectively. Blood clots tested for brucellosis via PCR were negative by RT-PCR. Brucella species was isolated from 6/13 (46.15%) vaginal swab samples cultured on Brucella selective agar, and shown to be B. melitensis using Real-Time PCR. Conclusion: Overall, seropositivity for camels was higher than what has been reported previously. Also, there was a notable difference in this study in cattle seroprevalence when comparing extensive with intensive systems, with the extensive system having much greater seropositivity.