Frequency of brucellosis in bovine livestock dayre and humans in central region of the state of Maranhão, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of bovine and human brucellosis in the middle region of Maranhão. Thirty-five properties, registered at Maranhão State Agency of Agriculture Defense (AGED-MA), were chosen randomly, between May and October of 2013. Then, 525 blood serum samples from dairy cattle and 60 from milkers were serologically analyzed and went through an epidemiological questionnaire to investigate the risk factors associated to the infection. The diagnosis protocol used was the trial test of rose Bengal test (RBT), and the confirmation of reactors was by 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) and fluorescence polarisation assay (FPA). The frequency of animals that tested positive was 26/525 (4.95%) at RBT, and 17/525 (3.23%) and 13/525 (2.47%) at 2-ME and FPA, respectively. The frequencies of foci herds, with at least one positive animal, were 9/35 (25.71%) and 8/3 (22.85%), respectively. Regarding the milkers, 1/60 (1.66%) reacted at the confirmatory tests such as 2-ME, FPA and complement fixation. The risk factor, associated to brucellosis occurrence, in the multivariate analysis, was the presence of sheep (odds ratio - OR = 6.66, confidence interval - 95%CI = 1.26-35.03). The study showed that brucellosis is disseminated in the investigated dairy herd, indicating the need of a better control and eradication actions forbrucellosis in the examined region.