Project Directorate on Animal Diseases Monitoring and Surveillance (PD-ADMAS), Hebbal, Bangalore - 24 (Karnataka).
*Corresponding Author.
Brucellosis in sheep and goats mainly caused by Brucella melitensis, is characterized by abortion, stillbirths and reproductive failure. In the present study, a total of 1005 sera samples comprising of 328 and 677 from sheep and goats, respectively, received from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka states were screened by Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT), Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT) and Indirect ELISA (iELISA). The overall prevalence of brucellosis in both sheep and goats was found 9.95%, 5.67%, and 7.36% by RBPT, STAT and iELISA tests, respectively. Higher seroprevalence of brucellosis was found in sheep (13.41%, 8.23%, and 9.14%) than in goats (8.27%, 4.43%, and 6.49%) by RBPT, STAT and iELISA tests in the same order. The prevalence of the disease was found highest in the state of Gujarat, (26.08%, 17.30%, and 22.6%) followed by Karnataka (14.93%, 7.23%, and 7.23%) and lowest in Rajasthan (5.53%, 4.11%, and 4.78%) by RBPT, STAT and iELISA tests, respectively. When three serological tests were compared, seropositivity was found highest by RBPT (9.95%) followed by iELISA (7.36%) and STAT (5.67%). The results showed that brucellosis is endemic at lower level in sheep and goats but lesser in prevalence than that in cattle. There are only a few reports of brucellosis in sheep and goats. Status of brucellosis in small ruminants in the country can be known through effective sero-monitoring using serological tests.
