Sero-prevalence of brucellosis in ruminants and awareness of stakeholders on the disease in wet markets in Maswa district, Tanzania

Abstract

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease with economic drawbacks worldwide. Livestock wet-markets are known premises for human-animal interaction, livestock products consumption and live animal trades in village setups. However, the contribution of wet-market procedures and the knowledge of stakeholders towards zoonotic diseases are not well documented. The present study assessed the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in on-sale ruminants, knowledge of stakeholders on the disease and practices favoring disease transmission so as to generate evidence-based disease transmission risk at wet-markets. A cross sectional study involved collection of 496 blood samples from cattle, goats and sheep in wet-markets in Maswa district, Tanzania. Sera were harvested and tested for brucellosis using fluorescent polarization assay. Structured questionnaire about the epidemiology and control of brucellosis was administered to 400 wet-market stakeholders. Data were analyzed by computing descriptive statistics. The sero-prevalences of 11.2% (95% CI: 7.6 – 15.8) in cattle, 3.92% (95% CI: 1.1 – 9.7) in sheep and 1.39% (95% CI: 0.2 – 4.9) in goats were recorded. Un-screened ruminants from different herds were mixed during auction. Sold animals moved to different destinations while un-sold ones returned home. Interview results revealed that 91% of respondents had low knowledge about brucellosis. The mean knowledge score on index-summated scale was 18.2%. The results imply that wet markets are a risk epicenter for transmission of brucellosis and stakeholders are not informed about it. It is recommended that wet-markets be brucellosis surveillance points and strategies for brucellosis control should consider an awareness and training package to the community