Sero-epidemiological Study on Camel Brucellosis in Somalia

Abstract

Brucellosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases worldwide. The disease was not fully assessed in Somalia particularly after the civil war of 1990s. The present study was conducted from December, 2015 to March, 2016 in order to determine the seroprevalence and possible risk factors associated with camel brucellosis in Mogadishu city of Somalia. Questionnaire survey was also used to evaluate the knowledge-attitude-practice (KAP) among camel owners. A total of 180 camel sera were randomly sampled and tested using Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT), Modified RBPT (mRBPT), Serum Agglutination Test (SAT) and Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (cELISA). The investigated camels were apparently healthy above two years of age with no history of vaccination against brucellosis. The overall seroprevalence of camel brucellosis was 4.4% at individual level and 31.3% at herd level. The