Seroprevalence, hematological and biochemical alterations in Brucella-seropositive Muturu cattle in Nigeria.

This study evaluated the prevalence, hematological and some biochemical alterations in Brucella seropositive Muturu breed of cattle which may change the narratives of multi-disease tolerance of the breed. Sera from 33 Muturu cattle herds chosen by snow ball sampling were screened for Brucella antibodies with modified Rose Bengal test (RBT) supported with the cELISA. Eighteen (18) seropositive samples matched to18 sero-negatives, with regard to age and sex of the animals and chosen by simple random sampling, were analyzed for hematological and biochemical changes, following standard procedures. Individual seroprevalence of 38% and 10% were recorded with the RBT and cELISA respectively, while herd seroprevalence of 52% was recorded with the RBT and none with the cELISA. Seropositivity to brucellosis was significantly associated with farm origin (OR = 16.67; 95%CI = 1.56-153.85; p = 0.019). There was significantly lower packed cell volume (PCV) (p = 0.048) and absolute eosinophil count (p = 0.006), and significantly higher absolute lymphocyte count (p = 0.014) in the seropositive than the negative Muturu cattle. In addition, plasma fibrinogen (p < 0.001), serum albumin (p = 0.037), urea (p = 0.001) and cholesterol (p = 0.032) were significantly lower while serum globulin (p = 0.004), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity (p = 0.012) and bilirubin (p = 0.012) were significantly higher in the seropositive than sero-negative Muturu cattle. No significant variations were observed in the rest of the parameters assayed. These findings suggest that Muturu cattle are apparently susceptible to brucellosis and experience active organism-host interactions with resultant clinicopathological effects and therefore could be passive harbingers of Brucella for other animals as well as humans.

Hematological and serum biochemical profiles of a natural African swine fever virus infection in pigs.

African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious viral disease that affects pigs of all ages, inducing hemorrhagic fever with high mortality and severe threat to pig production. This study investigated the hematological and serum biochemical abnormalities associated with a natural ASF infection in pigs. A total of 100 serum samples of pigs from piggery suspected of ASFV infection were screened for antibodies by ELISA. Thirty­two blood samples from serologically positive pigs and 32 negative pigs were undergo to hematological and serum biochemical analyses following standard procedures. The results showed that the mean values of the red blood cell (RBC) count, total white blood cell (TWBC) count, absolute lymphocyte count, absolute monocyte count, serum total protein (TP) and globulin were significantly (p < 0.05) lower while the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), absolute neutrophil count and serum gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the infected than the healthy pigs. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the mean values of the packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin concentration, absolute eosinophil count, cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities between the infected and healthy pigs. Hence, natural ASFV infection may have caused alterations in the hematological and serum biochemical parameters in the infected pigs. The generated data could complement the existing laboratory diagnostic techniques such as polymerase chain reaction, direct fluorescence antibody test, indirect fluorescent antibody test and ELISA in the diagnosis of ASF in pigs.