Prevalence of Bovine Tuberculosis (BTB) in Cattle Using Antibody ELISA in Seven Counties of Kenya

Abstract

Bovine tuberculosis is an important zoonotic disease whose eradication has proved problematic due to the challenges in effective screening and diagnosis. A study to determine the presence and prevalence of bovine tuberculosis antibodies in seven counties of Kenya was carried out between August 2013 and December 2013. The study used bovine sera that were collected from seven counties in Kenya between 2011 and August 2013 and stored at the Central Veterinary Laboratories (CVL), Kabete Nairobi. The study utilized a newly developed antibody ELISA Kit. A total of 644 bovine serum samples were tested using MPB70 and MPB83 recombinant proteins as capture antigens. Data was recorded in Microsoft excel and exported to SPSS 16.0 version for analysis. The study showed a prevalence of 3.57% (23/644) with Wajir County having the highest prevalence of 4.7% (4/85). On Chi-square and fishers exact test there was no significant association between BTB infection with age (P= 0.05507), Breed (P=0.4111) and sex (P=0.2354). This study has documented the prevalence of BTB in cattle for the first time in Kenya utilizing a more specific antibody ELISA. This method of diagnosis presents a quicker and a cheaper way to the screening of BTB in live animals. This study also concludes that BTB is present in Kenyan cattle populations and recommends a survey of all counties and wildlife reserves to map out a comprehensive prevalence status of the whole country.

Key words: Cattle, MPB70, MPB83, Mycobacterium bovis, prevalence.