Abstract

Dawit Dejene*

Bovine brucellosis is a bacterial endemic zoonotic disease that poses a serious threat to public health, especially for the poor and marginalized communities. Between April 2021 and June 2021, a cross-sectional research of bovine brucellosis was carried out in Bero wereda, South West Ethiopia. All breeds of cattle kept in an extensive husbandry system and older than six months were selected randomly and included from the study region. A total of 111, 96, and 177 agro ecological samples from highland, lowland, and midland, respectively, were gathered based on the density of the cattle population in the wereda. All 384 sera were subjected to the screening test (Rose Bengal Plate test, or RBPT) against Brucella abortus antigen, and 13 of them tested positive for bovine brucellosis. Those RBPT positive samples were then retested by the more specific confirmatory test of indirect ELISA, of which only 11 of them were truly positive for bovine Brucella antibody, providing an overall prevalence of 2.86% with 95% CI (1.61-5.06). Age, agro ecology, and the introduction of new animals were found to have statistically significant associations (P<0.05) with the occurrence of brucellosis among the predisposing variables taken into account in the current study. Despite the low sero prevalence found in this study, anyone at risk for brucellosis should take precautions to protect themselves by using personal protective equipment, maintaining a clean barn, and disinfecting any areas that may have become contaminated by discharged material.