Seroprevalence and risk factors of bovine brucellosis in the province of Djelfa (Algeria)

In order to determine the prevalence of bovine brucellosis and the factors affecting its persistence in the province of Djelfa (Algeria), a sero-epidemiological study was carried out on a total of 10827 cattle (7346 females and 3481 males) during the decade from 2004 to 2013. The sera were screened by card agglutination test, and the positive samples were confirmed by the complement fixation test. Some factors (year, age, breed and sex) were considered. Results found an average prevalence of brucellosis during these ten years of 1.4% with a highly significant difference according to year and sex (P<0.05). A prevalence of 1.58% for females against a prevalence of 1.03% for males was observed. No significant difference was observed for the different age groups (P>0.05) in the seroprevalence of brucellosis. A higher prevalence of infection (1.53%) was found in imported breeds compared to local and cross breeds with (1.39%) and (1.35%) respectively. The effect of the breed is highly significant (P<0.05). In conclusion the bovine brucellosis persists in the province of Djelfa and it is necessary to implement a scheme to fight and prevent this infection.