Relative performance of buffered Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and slow (tube) agglutination test (SAT) for detection of Brucella abortus antibodies in indigenous boran cattle in Tanzania

Abstract

The seroprevalence of antibodies against Brucella abortus bacterial pathogen (BABP) in 200 local indigenous boran cattle breed in Manyara ranch was investigated and compared using 2 classical serological tests. The performance of the buffered Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and slow (tube) agglutination test (SAT) for the detection of serum antibody against B. abortus was: 59(29.5%) and 35(17.5%) animals were positive, respectively. There was appreciable difference in the seroprevalence detected by RBPT and SAT on clinically healthy boran cattle with regard to sensitivity and specificity of the test with RBPT being highly sensitive and specific than SAT. It\'s concluded that these indigenous boran cattle may be a potential reservoir of B. abortus pathogen and RBPT could be routinely used for detection of antibodies against B. abortus in these cattle.

Keywords: Brucella abortus, boran, cattle, RBPT, seroprevalence, SAT, Tanzania.

Tanzania Vet Journal Vol. 25 (2) 2008: pp. 106-110