Sero epidemiology of Cattle Brucellosis and Associated Risk Factors in Amibara District of Afar Region, Ethiopia

Abstract Bovine brucellosis is the most common but under reported bacterial diseases known to create a serious socio-economic problem in both intensive and extensive livestock production systems. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine seroprevalence and associated risk factors of cattle brucellosis in Amibara district of Afar region, Ethiopia from October 2019 to May 2020. A total of 181 cattle sera were collected and screened using Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and reactive samples were further confirmed by complement fixation test (CFT). Risk factors associated with cattle brucellosis were assessed during serum sample collection using data collection format. As a result, the overall seroprevalence of cattle brucellosis was 10.5% and 2.2% by RBPT and CFT respectively. Assessment of potential risk factors showed that, Age (χ2=6.77, p=0.021), number of parity (χ2=9.433, p=0.004), abortion history (χ2=16, p=0.002) and history of placental retention (χ2=19.1, p=0.003) showed statistically significant association with brucellosis seropositivity in cattle. Based on firth’s bias reduced logistic regression analysis, only multiparous animal (OR=10.68, P=0.0042, 95% CI=-1.19-7.595) and animals with placental retention (OR=72.72, P=0.0026, 95% CI=1.46-9.272) showed statistically significantly association with brucella infection in cattle. In conclusion, the results of the current study indicate the presence of brucellosis in cattle in Amibara district of Afar region, Ethiopia. Hence, implementing preventive measures such as developing vaccination strategy, regular screening and culling of the reactive animal is important to create diseases free herd.