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Seroepidemiology of bovine brucellosis in Colombia’s preeminent dairy region, and its potential public health impact

  • Veterinary Microbiology - Research Paper
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Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the associated factors of brucellosis in Colombia’s preeminent dairy region declared in quarantine. A total of 656 samples were collected from cows ≥ 2-year-old from 40 herds. Samples were screened by the Rose Bengal Plate Test, and the Fluorescence Polarized Assay test and Competitive ELISA were used as confirmatory tests. A cow was classified as positive if the screening and both confirmatory tests were positive. A herd was classified as positive if at least one cow was seropositive. The factors associated to seropositivity were tested using a logistic regression model with explanatory variables regarding cattle management, zootechnical parameters, and sanitary practices. The seroprevalence at the animal level was 6.6% (43/656) and at herd level 27.5% (11/40). In the model, five variables explained the animal cases: purchase or animal transfer between owner’s farms (OR = 2.79, 95% CI 1.42, 5.49), history of abortion (OR = 4.22, 95% CI 1.91, 9.33), birth of weak calves (OR = 13.77, 95% CI 2.75, 68.91), use of a bull for mating (OR = 9.69, 95% CI 2.23, 42.18), and the vaccination in adulthood (OR = 3.03, 95% CI 1.04.8.78). In the model at the herd level, two variables explained the cases: birth of weak calves (OR = 9.60, 95% CI 1.54, 59.76) and purchase or animal transfer between owner’s farms (OR = 7.22, 95% CI 1.03, 50.62). These results justify the need for a quarantine declaration in the region and the implementation of epidemiological studies as a public health measures used to combat outbreak.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Colombian Agricultural Institute and the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro for facilitating the execution of this study. We also thank TestLab S.A.S for their collaboration with the laboratory process. Finally, special thanks to Corpogansa del Norte of Antioquia for their support with our fieldwork, especially their associates for allowing us to conduct the research on their cattle.

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, finance code 001). This work was financial supported, by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the fellowship granted to HAS (Research Productivity Scholarship, grant number 310819/2018-0) and the Foundation Carlos Chagas Filho Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Veterinary Institute, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, P.O. Box 23897-000, Seropedica, RJ, Brazil

    Olga Lucia Herrán Ramirez, Huarrisson Azevedo Santos & Isabele da Costa Angelo

  2. Faculty of Graduate School, CES University, P.O. Box 050021, Medellin, Colombia

    Ingrid Lorena Jaramillo Delgado

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  1. Olga Lucia Herrán Ramirez
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  2. Huarrisson Azevedo Santos
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  3. Ingrid Lorena Jaramillo Delgado
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  4. Isabele da Costa Angelo
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Contributions

OLH: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing, review and editing. HAS and IDA: conceptualization, methodology, review, editing, supervision and project administration and funding acquisition. ILJ: participated in the methodology, review and editing.

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Correspondence to Olga Lucia Herrán Ramirez.

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The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (CEP Approval number 1.243/18) and by the Ethics Committee for Animal Use (CEUA Approval number 8427171219) for the Veterinary Institute of Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ).

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Herrán Ramirez, O.L., Azevedo Santos, H., Jaramillo Delgado, I.L. et al. Seroepidemiology of bovine brucellosis in Colombia’s preeminent dairy region, and its potential public health impact. Braz J Microbiol 51, 2133–2143 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-020-00377-z

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