Prevalence of <i>Brucella,/i> antibodies in donkeys (<i>Equus asinus</i>) in Borno and Yobe states, Nigeria

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was designed to study the serological prevalence of antibodies against Brucella spp by using Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Microtitre Serum Agglutination Test (MSAT). A total of six hundred (600) adult donkeys comprising of 393 males and 207 females were sampled from three local government areas each, of Konduga, Monguno and Ngala in Borno state and Bursari, Geidam and Machina in Yobe state. Overall prevalence of brucellosis was 33 (5.50%), out of which 14 (2.33%) male and 19 (3.17%) female donkeys were positive by both RBPT and MSAT. There was statistically significant association between female sex of donkeys and positive serological reaction (p<0.05). Out of the 300 sera sampled from Borno state, comprising of 193 male and 107 female donkeys, 18 (6.0%) tested positive. Whereas, 15 (5.0%) of the 300 (200 males and 100 females) sera sampled from Yobe state were positive. It can be concluded that the overall prevalence of brucellosis among donkeys in Borno and Yobe states in north eastern Nigeria in this study was 5.5%. The prevalence rate was higher among female donkeys than in males.

Keywords: Borno, Brucellosis, Donkey, Nigeria, Yobe.