Vet World   Vol.17   December-2024  Article - 9 

Research Article

Veterinary World, 17(12): 2780-2796

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.2780-2796

Prevalence of ruminant brucellosis and associated risk factors in some Egyptian Governorates

Nesreen Allam Tantawy Allam1, Mahinour Ezzeldin Abdelsalam2, Hend Ibrahim Mohamed Elsharkawy3, Mai Mohamed Kandil4, Amany Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed1, Fatma Ali5, Mohamed A. Gebely1, Safaa Y. Nour6, Doaa Sedky1, Mona Ebrahim Hussien Abd El-Gawad7, Hoda Mohamed Zaki3, Nazek Al-Gallas8,9, Amal M. Aboelmaaty10, Mona Mohamed Sobhy11, Nagwa Sayed Ata4, Marwa Salah Abdel-Hamid12, and Ghada A. Badawy13,14
1. Department of Parasitology and Animal Diseases, Veterinary Research Institute, National Research Centre, 33 El Buhouth Street, Dokki, P.O. Box: 12622, Cairo, Egypt.
2. Department of General Biology, Center of Basic Sciences, Misr University for Science and Technology, Al Motamayez District, 6th of October, Giza, Egypt.
3. Brucella Reference Laboratory, Animal Health Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 264-Giza, Cairo, 12618, Egypt.
4. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Veterinary Research Institute, National Research Centre, 33 El Buhouth Street, Dokki, P.O. Box: 12622, Cairo, Egypt.
5. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aswan University, Egypt.
6. Animal Medicine Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aswan University, Egypt.
7. Cytogenetics and Animal Cell Culture Lab., National Gene Bank, Agriculture Research Center, 9 Gamaa Street, Giza, Cairo, Egypt.
8. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Hafr Al-Batin, P.O. Box: 1803, Hafr Al-Batin, 31991, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
9. Water and Food Control Lab., National Center of Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, E. coli-Enteropathogens, Institute Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis.
10. Department of Reproduction, Veterinary Research Institute, National Research Centre, 33 El Buhouth Street, Dokki, P.O. Box: 12622, Cairo, Egypt.
11. Department of Reproductive Diseases, Animal Reproduction Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Al-Haram, Giza, Egypt.
12. Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Sadat City.
13. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, El-Fayoum University, Fayoum, 63514, Egypt.
14. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Umluj 46429, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

Background and Aim: Brucellosis contributes to significant economic losses due to abortion, weak newborns, infertility, and up to 20% reductions in milk yield in carrier animals. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of ruminant brucellosis in six Egyptian governorates. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of ruminant brucellosis and evaluate the risk factors regarding the epidemiological status, highlighting the importance of early carrier detection for the success of control programs. 

Materials and Methods: A total of 3000 ruminants were investigated. Blood and serum samples were collected for routine hemato-biochemical analysis (complete blood picture and metabolic panel). In addition, genotoxicity analysis was performed, whereas tissue samples were collected for histopathological analysis. The buffered acidified plate antigen test (BAPAT), Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT), and complement fixation test (CFT) were used for serological diagnosis of brucellosis. The obtained bacterial colonies were typed using Brucella abortus-, melitensis-, ovis-, and suis-polymerase chain reaction (AMOS-PCR), depending on the variability of the IS711 fragment among Brucella spp. Serum trace elements, oxidative stress, and acute phase proteins were compared according to body condition score (BCS) and clinical condition images within the study population. 

Results: Mastitis and abortion were the key recorded symptoms (9.966%, 299/3000 and 6%, 180/3000, respectively); however, symptomless individuals were predominant (82.9%, 2487/3000). Blood lymphocytosis was prominent even in asymptomatic animals. Nutritional and food conversion conditions were defined as low, moderate, or high BCS. Brucella overall seropositivity by BAPAT, RBPT, and CFT was 6.1% (182/3000), 5.6% (168/3000), and 5.1% (154/3000) in ruminant species within the included governorates, respectively. Upon diagnosis, 154 seropositive cases developed 93 bacterial isolates and a 731-bp PCR fragment whose sequences confirmed Brucella melitensis biovar 3. Serum metabolic and biochemical profiles, acute phase proteins, trace elements, and oxidative stress concentrations were indicative of loss of functionality in the liver and kidneys, malnutrition and malabsorption syndrome, and DNA damage, particularly in the low-BCS groups (p < 0.0001). Granulomatous lesions were most prominent in the lymph nodes, spleen, uterus, and udder of the dams, while placental multifocal necrosis with thrombosis was recorded in aborted fetuses. There were 8 types of chromosomal aberrations detected in peripheral white blood cells. The highest frequency was for dicentric aberrations 0.025% (25/1000), whereas the lowest 0.009% (9/1000) was for acentric, ring, fusion, and polyploidy. The difference between species was significant for BCS; 14.2% in low-BCS cattle and camels and 8.4% in high-BCS buffaloes. 

Conclusion: B. melitensis biovar 3 is prevalent in Egypt. Mixed-rearing systems are the main risk factors for interspecies transmission among ruminants. The difficulty in accurately diagnosing all infected animals, particularly carriers, is a major limitation of eradication and control programs. Different biomarkers could be indicators and/or sensors for performance and/or infectivity conditions in animal herds; however, they require further optimization. Early detection using molecular technologies, highly descriptive, quantitative, sensitive, and specific methods, as alternatives to serological diagnosis (CFT, BAPAT, and RBT), is urgently needed to enhance the efficiency of brucellosis-specific prophylaxis. Such a comprehensive procedure is the World Organization for Animal Health dependent decision. 

Keywords: abortion, acute phase proteins, AMOS-PCR, body condition score, Brucella melitensis, Egypt, genotoxicity, mastitis, oxidative stress, prevalence, trace elements.

How to cite this article: Allam NAT, Abdelsalam ME, Elsharkawy HIM, Kandil MM, Mohamed AMM, Ali F, Gebely MA, Nour SY, Sedky D, Abd El-Gawad MEH, Zaki HM, Al-Gallas N, Aboelmaaty AM, Sobhy MM, Ata NS, Abdel-Hamid MS, and Badawy GA (2024) Prevalence of ruminant brucellosis and associated risk factors in some Egyptian Governorates, Veterinary World, 17(12): 2780-2796.

Received: 2024-06-20    Accepted: 2024-10-16    Published online: 2024-12-14

Corresponding author: Nesreen Allam Tantawy Allam    E-mail: nesreenallam_nrc@yahoo.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.2780-2796

Copyright: Allam, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

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