ruminant brucellosis in the kafr el sheikh governorate of the nile delta, egypt prevalence of a neglected zoonosis反刍动物布鲁氏菌病kafr el sheikh的尼罗河三角洲,埃及流行一种被忽视的人畜共患病.pdfVIP

Ruminant Brucellosis in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate of the Nile Delta, Egypt: Prevalence of a Neglected Zoonosis 1,2 3 2 1 1 Yamen M. Hegazy *, Amgad Moawad , Salama Osman , Anne Ridler , Javier Guitian 1 Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, United Kingdom, 2 Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt, 3 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt Abstract Background: Brucellosis is a neglected tropical zoonosis allegedly reemerging in Middle Eastern countries. Infected ruminants are the primary source of human infection; consequently, estimates of the frequency of ruminant brucellosis are useful elements for building effective control strategies. Unfortunately, these estimates are lacking in most Middle East countries including Egypt. Our objectives are to estimate the frequency of ruminant brucellosis and to describe its spatial distribution in Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, Nile Delta, Egypt. Methodology/Principal Findings: We conducted a cross-sectional study in which 791 sheep, 383 goats, 188 cattle milk tanks and 173 buffalo milk tanks were randomly selected in 40 villages and tested for the presence of antibodies against Brucella spp. The seroprevalence among different species was estimated and visualized using choropleth maps. A spatial scanning method was used to identify areas with significantly higher proportions of seropositive flocks and milk tanks. We estimated that 12.2% of sheep and 11.3% of goats in the study area were seropositive against Brucella spp. and that 12.2% and 12% of cattle and buffalo milk tanks had antibodies against Brucella spp. The so