Comparative Efficacy of Serological Tests for Detection of Brucella Antibodies in Sheep and Goats

Brucellosis is an important zoonosis and a significant cause of reproductive losses in animals. In view of the considerable problems related to direct diagnosis of brucellosis in animals, the present study envisaged the appraisal of seroepidemiology of brucellosis in sheep and goats by detection of brucella specific antibodies, comparison of two serological tests, viz., i-ELISA (Indirect Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) and RBPT expand for detection of Brucella-specific antibodies. Out of 1012 sheep and goat sera screened, 88 (8.70%) and 75 (7.41%) were detected positive by RBPT and i-ELISA, respectively. Species-wise seroprevalence was detected 12.26% and 10.97% in sheep and 5.67% and 4.39% in goats by RBPT and i-ELISA, respectively. During present investigation, RBPT detected more number of samples positive for brucella antibodies. However, compared to i-ELISA, overall sensitivity and specificity of RBPT were 80.00% and 97.01%, respectively. Species-wise sensitivity of RBPT found was 82.35% in sheep and 75.00% in goat, whereas specificity was 96.38% in sheep and 96.41% in goats.