Seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis in agro pastoral areas of Jijjiga zone of Somali National Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was carried out from October 2008- March 2009 to determine the sero-prevalence of bovine brucellosis in four districts of Jijjiga Zone, eastern Ethiopia. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select the four districts and nine peasant associations (PAs). A total of 435 blood samples were collected from cattle of 6 or more months of age with no history of previous vaccination against brucellosis. All serum samples were initially screened by Rose-Bengal- Plate Test (RBPT) and those positive reactors to RBPT (n=8) were further tested by complement fixation test (CFT) for confirmation. Out of the 8 RBPT positive sera 6 were found to be positive to CFT. Accordingly, the overall seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis in Jijjiga Zone was 1.38% (6/435). The seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis in the four districts namely Awbare, Harshi, Kebribayah and Fafan districtes were 0.78%, 2.91%, 2.06% and 0%, respectively. Statistically there is no significant deference among the four districts (÷2 = 3.37, df = 3, P = 0.268). The study also revealed absence of significant statistical variation in the seroprevalence of brucellosis in different age and sex groups of the study animals (P > 0.05). Result of this study showed that the seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis in the study area is low. However, it is highly likely that the disease spreads in unaffected animals and herds given the extensive production system prevailing in the area which may allow contact of animals during grazing and at watering points. The public in general and high risk group in particular should be made aware of the zoonotic importance of bovine brucellosis.