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Factors associated with the prevalence of antibodies against Brucella abortus in water buffaloes from Santarém, Lower Amazon region, Brazil
Author(s) -
Batista Helder Ribeiro,
Passos Carla Tatiane Seixas,
Nunes Neto Osvaldo Gato,
Sarturi Cristiane,
Coelho Ana Paula Lima,
Moreira Thiago Rocha,
Morini Adriana Caroprezo,
Neves Kedson Alessandri Lobo,
Casseb Alexandre do Rosário,
Gennari Solange Maria,
Minervino Antonio Humberto Hamad
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
transboundary and emerging diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.392
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1865-1682
pISSN - 1865-1674
DOI - 10.1111/tbed.13192
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , veterinary medicine , brucellosis , herd , direct agglutination test , biology , serology , zoology , brucella , antibody , medicine , immunology
We evaluated the factors associated with the prevalence of antibodies against Brucella abortus in buffaloes in the municipality of Santarém, Western Pará, northern Brazil. The study was conducted on 60 farms, representing 25.8% of the total buffalo farms in the region. From those farms, a total of 426 buffaloes were sampled, males of any age and females more than 24 months of age, to avoid a false‐positive reaction in the serological test due to vaccination. The Acidified Agglutination Serum Test was carried out on serum samples using B. abortus strain 1,119–3 as the antigen. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed to investigate the association between brucellosis and potential risk factors. Of the 426 tested buffaloes, 29 were positive, resulting in an overall animal prevalence of antibodies against B. abortus at the animal level of 6.8% (4.6–9.6; 95% confidence interval). The herd level prevalence was 30% (18 of 60) and seroprevalence range within farms was from 0% to 100%. At the animal level, buffaloes raised in the floodplains tended ( p = 0.06) to present a higher seroprevalence (9.70%) of antibodies against B. abortus than buffaloes raised in dry land (4.98%) and cows tended ( p = 0.054) to have a higher seroprevalence than male buffaloes. Multivariate herd‐level analysis revealed association between farm type and brucellosis seroprevalence ( p = 0.015); dairy farms were two times more likely to have seropositive buffalo than beef farms. Our survey demonstrated a high farm seroprevalence of B. abortus in buffalo raised in an Amazonian ecosystem with positive animals found in one third of sampled farms.