Department of Biomedical Sciences and Technology, Maseno University, Kisumu, Kenya.
Biosciences Eastern And Central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
BMC Vet Res. 2020 May 11;16(1):133. doi: 10.1186/s12917-020-02346-y.
Brucellosis is an emerging yet neglected zoonosis that has been reported in Kenya. Epidemiological data on brucellosis in ruminants is readily accessible; however, reports on brucellosis in pigs remain limited. This study sought to detect Brucella infection in pig serum by both serological and molecular techniques. Serum from 700 pigs randomly collected at a centralized abattoir in Nairobi region, Kenya were screened in parallel, using both Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and competitive Enzyme-Linked Immuno-sorbent Assay (cELISA) for antibodies against Brucella spp. All sera positive by RBT and 16 randomly selected negative samples were further tested using conventional PCR targeting bcsp31 gene and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) assays targeting IS711 and bcsp31 genes.
A prevalence of 0.57% (n = 4/700) was estimated using RBT; none of these samples was positive on cELISA. All RBT positive sera were also positive by both PCRs, while two sero-negative samples also tested positive on RT-PCR (n = 6/20). Brucella abortus was detected in four out of the six PCR positive samples through a real-time multiplex PCR.
The detection of antibodies against Brucella spp. and DNA in serum from slaughterhouse pigs confirm the presence of Brucella in pigs. Therefore, investigation of the epidemiology and role of pigs in the transmission of brucellosis in Kenya is needed. Further targeted studies would be useful to systematically quantify and identify the spp. of Brucella in pigs.
布氏杆菌病是一种新兴但被忽视的动物传染病，在肯尼亚已有报告。有关反刍动物布氏杆菌病的流行病学数据易于获取；然而，有关猪布氏杆菌病的报告仍然有限。本研究旨在通过血清学和分子技术检测猪血清中的布鲁氏菌感染。从肯尼亚内罗毕地区一个集中的屠宰场随机采集的 700 份猪血清，同时使用虎红平板试验（RBT）和竞争酶联免疫吸附试验（cELISA）平行检测针对布鲁氏菌属的抗体。RBT 阳性且随机选择的 16 份阴性样本进一步使用针对 bcsp31 基因的常规 PCR 和针对 IS711 和 bcsp31 基因的实时 PCR（RT-PCR）检测。
使用 RBT 估计的流行率为 0.57%（n=700）；这些样本中没有一个在 cELISA 上呈阳性。所有 RBT 阳性血清均通过两种 PCR 呈阳性，而两种血清阴性样本也通过 RT-PCR 呈阳性（n=20）。通过实时多重 PCR 在 6 个 PCR 阳性样本中的 4 个中检测到流产布鲁氏菌。
从屠宰场猪血清中检测到针对布鲁氏菌属的抗体和 DNA，证实了猪中存在布鲁氏菌。因此，需要调查肯尼亚猪在布鲁氏菌病传播中的流行病学和作用。进一步的有针对性的研究将有助于系统地量化和鉴定猪中布鲁氏菌的 spp.。
