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Brucellosis in small ruminants caused mainly due to Brucella melitensis is an important zoonotic disease characterized by abortion, retained placenta, infertility, orchitis, epididymitis and rarely arthritis. Small ruminants are the main source of economy for the rural and marginally poor farmers and brucellosis is resulting in huge economic losses due to abortions and infertility and causing public health concern among the small ruminant keepers. Bovine brucellosis control programme has been implemented in India and small ruminants are left out of the programme mainly due to paucity of brucellosis status. The present cross-sectional study based on stratified random sampling was undertaken during 2017-18 to provide the nationwide brucellosis sero-prevalence in small ruminants. A total of 24,056 small ruminant serum samples (sheep samples = 8,103 [male-2,440 and female-5,663] and goat samples = 15,953 [male-4,331 and female-11,622]) sourced from 27 out of 29 states and two out of seven union territories (UTs), 350 districts of total 640 districts (54.68% of the Indian districts) and from 1,462 villages out of 6,40,867 villages (43.83% of the Indian villages). The serum samples were tested by indirect ELISA and overall brucellosis apparent and true prevalence of 7.45 (95% CI: 7.13-7.79) and 3.79 (95% CI: 3.44-4.17) was recorded. Significantly higher brucellosis sero-prevalence (p < .0001) was observed in sheep (11.55%) than goats (5.37%). Similarly, brucellosis seropositivity was highly significant in females compared to males in both sheep and goats. Countrywide, greater than 5% brucellosis sero-prevalence in sheep and goats was recorded in 14 and 10 states, respectively, indicating endemicity of the disease. The study provided the latest update on nationwide spatial sero-prevalence of small ruminant brucellosis which will aid government to strengthen regular surveillance and vaccination to reduce the disease burden and public health problems in the country., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Brucellosis caused by Brucella spp. is an important zoonosis and constitutes a serious public health hazard. In India, the disease is increasingly prevalent among bovine population with high zoonotic potential and negative impact on national economy. The investigation was conducted to study seroprevalence of brucellosis through random sample survey using survey tool box software. A total of 12,054 [cattle-9236, buffaloes-2818] bovine serum samples sourced from 15 states of India were tested by protein G indirect ELISA. The true prevalences of brucellosis observed in cattle and buffaloes were 8.3% and 3.6%, respectively. The highest prevalence of brucellosis was observed in the state of Punjab in both cattle and buffaloes (23.51 and 10.2%). Comparatively higher prevalence was recorded in cattle than the buffaloes in all the states except Manipur. The true prevalence greater than 5% was recorded in 8 and 3 states for cattle and buffaloes, respectively [(cattle- Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala) and (buffaloes-Punjab, Gujarat and Manipur)] indicating wider prevalence of brucellosis. This study conclusively highlighted the seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis at state level which might be useful for prioritizing regions for vaccination, designing control strategies and improvisation of clinical surveillance system., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Swine brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella suis. The study describes the occurrence of brucellosis in two organized piggeries in Southern India., Methods: A total of 585 serum samples comprising 575 from pigs and 10 from animal handlers were collected and tested by serological tests and PCR. Tissue samples were collected for isolation of the pathogen., Results: Out of 575 serum samples screened, 236 (41.04%) were positive for brucellosis by both Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and indirect ELISA (iELISA) and 47 (8.17) samples showed Brucella DNA amplification by genus specific PCR. The sows those aborted and 19 boars with orchitis were seropositive for brucellosis indicating association of clinical symptoms with brucellosis seropositivity. Two of 10 pig handlers were positive by RBPT and showed significant serum agglutination test (SAT) titres of >1:160 and 1:320. B. suis bvI was isolated and identified by biochemical tests and confirmed by amplification Brucella genus and Bruce ladder PCRs from vaginal and testicular samples., Conclusions: The introduction of untested breeding boars in the farms might have resulted in the disease transmission and spread. The present study highlighted the diagnosis of B. suis bvI as a cause of abortions in the pigs and occupational exposure to farm personnel., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Brucellosis in pigs, caused by the bacterium Brucella suis, is an important zoonotic infection. In the present study, fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) was standardized and compared with indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) and competitive ELISA (cELISA) for diagnosis of porcine brucellosis. Test performances were evaluated using representative panel (n = 100), samples from swine brucellosis outbreak (n = 300), samples from brucellosis suspected animals (n = 291) and sera samples from apparently healthy animals (n = 1121). With panel samples, the FPA cut-off ≥11ΔmP was arrived with sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of 95.00 and 98.75%, respectively. Testing of samples from swine brucellosis outbreak, the diagnostic Se and Sp of 100 and 95.14% by iELISA, 73.91 and 100% by cELISA and 86.96 and 100% by FPA, respectively were recorded. Similarly, in case of swine brucellosis suspected samples, relative performance of FPA with cELISA had revealed higher kappa value of 0.864 with an accuracy of 93.47. Indirect ELISA was found to be highly sensitive but showed cross reactivity mainly for Yersinia enterocolitica O9 antibodies than cELISA and FPA. The high specificity of FPA test recorded in various types of samples in the study indicated that, FPA could serve as confirmatory test for individual animal diagnosis, outbreak confirmation, surveillance and quarantine of swine brucellosis cases., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lateral flow assay (LFA) for brucellosis was standardized and evaluated. The test showed high diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for diagnosis of brucellosis in bovines, small ruminants and swine. The study emphasized the importance of LFA as a useful, rapid, and easy-to-perform tool for the testing of brucellosis., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ovine brucellosis is often neglected contagious bacterial disease causing enormous economic losses to sheep industry. India is recognized as geographical hotspot for brucellosis and there is only one seroprevalence report of Brucella ovis infection in sheep. Ovine brucellosis is caused by both rough and smooth strains of Brucella sp. In the present study, 300 sheep serum samples collected from 9 different districts of Karnataka by 3 stage random sampling approach were screened by antibody and DNA detection tests (RBPT and iELISA) and PCR. Antibodies specific to B. melitensis and B. ovis infection were 8.67% and 5.34%, respectively. In the same set of samples, 5% (15/300) showed Brucella DNA amplification by bcsp31 and IS711 genus specific PCRs. In B. melitensis and B. ovis species specific PCRs, 3.34% and 1.67%, respectively were detected positive indicating presence of both Brucella species in sheep population. Among the 7 districts, Yadgir, Tumkur, Raichur and Bagalkot showed higher prevalence of antibodies against rough and smooth strains of Brucella. This emphasizes the need for sensitization of national system in designing surveillance and control strategies for both B. ovis and B. melitensis infections in sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Brucellosis caused by bacteria belongs to the genus Brucella is an important zoonosis and constitutes a serious public health hazard worldwide including India. The present study aimed to estimate the knowledge of veterinarians on brucellosis, its public health threat, diagnosis, and vaccination. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during 2013-2015 and 453 veterinarians representing 11 states/Union Territories (UT) of India (Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab) were interviewed using self-administered questionnaire. Results: Out of 453 veterinarians, 71.74% stated handling of the animals on day-to-day basis and 28.25% were engaged in administration activities. The veterinarians ranked foot-and-mouth disease and brucellosis at the first and fourth ranks among the list of ten economic impacted diseases in the country. A significant association was observed between laboratory confirmation with those who handled brucellosis-suspected cases (p=0.000). Similarly, significant association was noted for the availability of vials/slides (p=0.114), vacutainers (p=0.008), icebox (p=0.103), and refrigerator (p=0.106) for those who preferred laboratory diagnosis. Only 20% of the veterinarians recommended vaccination against bovine brucellosis, and 17% obtained laboratory confirmation for the brucellosis-suspected cases. Conclusion: The study highlighted the need for awareness programs, laboratory facilities, veterinary doctors, and protective measures for the veterinarians for combating brucellosis through the control program in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]