Brucella species detection from blood and milk samples v1

Brucellosis is a widespread zoonotic disease which is characterized by reduced fertility and abortion in several species of animals and in human. Camels are highly susceptible to Brucella abortu, and Brucella melitensis but they are not the primary hosts. Consumption of Brucellainfected milk and meat from camels is a serious public health issue though. Therefore rapid detection and diagnosis of Brucellosis is crucial for any control program. In this study, a sensitive and specific PCR assay was adapted for the detection and identification of Brucellaspp. in100 camels. Almost half of the collected samples were positive for Brucellaspp. (i. e. 41%). 44% of the samples were positive for Brucella abortus, 43% were positive for B. melitensis, and 22% were positive for a co-infection of B. abortus andB.melitensis.The majority of infected camels were male adults.Most of the positive samples were collected at the slaughterhouse in Nyala. This finding is alarming as Sudanese consumers are known for eating raw camels' liver. Therefore the main recommendation ofthis study is toadopt this sensitive and species-specific PCR protocol for routine detection of brucellosis in animals to be slaughtered in the future . In the mean time this protocol can be used as a confirmatory test for the detection ofbrucellosis in live camels as well as for other animals to be slaughtered because it is the protocol with the lowest risk for laboratory personnel.