Epidemiology of brucellosis in cattle and dairy farmers of rural Ludhiana, Punjab

• Published in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases Vol. 15; no. 3; p. e0009102
• Main Authors: Holt, Hannah R, Bedi, Jasbir Singh, Kaur, Paviter, Mangtani, Punam, Sharma, Narinder Singh, Gill, Jatinder Paul Singh, Singh, Yogeshwar, Kumar, Rajesh, Kaur, Manmeet, McGiven, John, Guitian, Javier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01-03-2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agglutination tests; Agriculture; Animal lactation; Animals; Biology and Life Sciences; Brucellosis; Care and treatment; Cattle; Consumption; Contact; Dairy farmers; Dairy farming; Dairy farms; Dairy industry; Dairy products; Development and progression; Disease; Educational institutions; Epidemiology; Estimates; Ethics; Farmers; Farmworkers; Foodborne diseases; Health aspects; Health risks; Hygiene; Livestock; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Milk; Population; Questionnaires; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Sample size; Sentinel health events; Tropical climate; Tropical diseases; Values; Veterinarians; Veterinary surgeons; Zoonoses; India; Asia
• ISSN: 1935-2735; 1935-2727; 1935-2735
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009102

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease imposing significant impacts on livestock production and public health worldwide. India is the world's leading milk producer and Punjab is the state which produces the most cattle and buffalo milk per capita. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of bovine brucellosis to provide evidence for control of the disease in Punjab State, India. A cross-sectional study of dairy farms was conducted in humans and livestock in rural Ludhiana district using a multi-stage sampling strategy. The study suggests that brucellosis is endemic at high levels in cattle and buffalo in the study area with 15.1% of large ruminants testing seropositive and approximately a third of dairy farms having at least one animal test seropositive. In total, 9.7% of those in direct contact with livestock tested seropositive for Brucella spp. Persons that assisted with calving and/or abortion within the last year on a farm with seronegative livestock and people which did not assist with calving/abortion had 0.35 (95% CI: 0.17 to 7.1) and 0.21 (0.09 to 0.46) times the odds of testing seropositive compared to persons assisting with calving/abortion in a seropositive farm, respectively. The study demonstrated that persons in direct contact with cattle and buffalo in the study area have high risk of exposure to Brucella spp. Control of the disease in livestock is likely to result in benefits to both animal and public health sectors.