Abstract
Very few, mostly old, and only preliminary serological studies of brucellosis in goats exist in Ecuador. In order to assess the current epidemiological situation, we performed a cross-sectional serological study in the goat populations of Carchi (n = 160 animals), Pichincha (n = 224 animals), and Loja provinces (n = 2024 animals). Only two positive serological results (RB negative and SAT-EDTA ≥400 IU/ml) were obtained in lactating goats from the same farm in Quito (Pichincha province). Additionally, milk was sampled from 220 animals in Pichincha province. The present study indicates a low apparent prevalence in Pichincha province and absence in Carchi and Loja provinces. A total of 25 positive milk ring tests (MRT) were obtained in Pichincha province yielding a prevalence of MRT of 11.16%. Subsequent culture was performed on the positive MRT samples. All results were negative, apart from a single sample, obtained from a serologically positive goat in Quito, that was positive for Brucella abortus strain 19 (B19). Several hypotheses are forwarded concerning this unexpected result. The most likely hypothesis is the possible accidental use of a needle, previously used for vaccination of cattle with the said vaccine, for the administration of drug treatment to the goat. This hypothesis underlines the necessity of biosecurity measures to prevent this type of accidents.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albornoz, G., 1970. Diagnóstico de brucelosis por la prueba de “Ring-test” en la provincia del Guayas a nivel de hacienda. Universidad Estatal de Guayaquil.
Alton, G.., Jones, L.., Angus, R.., Verger, J.., 1988. Tecniques for the brucellosis laboratory, 1st Ed. ed. Paris.
Aznar, M.N., Samartino, L.E., Humblet, M.F., Saegerman, C., 2014. Bovine Brucellosis in Argentina and Bordering Countries: Update. Transbound. Emerg. Dis. 61, 121–133. doi:10.1111/tbed.12018
Bricker, B.J., Halling, S.M., 1994. Differentiation of Brucella abortus bv. 1, 2, and 4, Brucella melitensis, Brucella ovis, and Brucella suis bv. 1 by PCR. J. Clin. Microbiol. 32, 2660–6.
Bricker, B.J., Halling, S.M., 1995. Enhancement of the Brucella AMOS PCR assay for differentiation of Brucella abortus vaccine strains S19 and RB51. J. Clin. Microbiol. 33, 1640–2.
Castro, H.A., González, S.R., Prat, M.I., 2005. Brucelosis: una revisión práctica. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam 39, 203–216.
Corbel, M., 2006. Brucellosis in humans and animals. World Health Organization, Geneva Switzerland.
Corner, L.A., Alton, G.G., 1981. Persistence of Brucella abortus strain 19 infection in adult cattle vaccinated with reduced doses. Res. Vet. Sci. 31, 342–4.
El Comercio, 2012. La leche de cabra se vende sin regulaciones [WWW Document]. El Comer. URL http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/quito/leche-de-cabra-se-vende.html (accessed 1.1.12).
Falade, S., 1978. A comparison of three serological tests in the diagnosis of caprine brucellosis. Res. Vet. Sci. 24, 376–7.
Godfroid, J., Boelaert, F., 1995. Prescriptions pour le diagnostic sérologique de la brucellose. Belgium: CODA-CERVA (Ed.) 47.
Godfroid, J., Nielsen, K., Saegerman, C., 2010. Diagnosis of brucellosis in livestock and wildlife. Croat. Med. J. 51, 296–305.
Granda, B., 1972. Incidencia de brucelosis caprina en el cantón Macará por el método de Huddleson. Universidad Nacional de Loja.
INEC, MAG, SICA, 2002. ECUADOR - Agricultural Census 1999/2000 – Main Results [WWW Document]. III Censo Nac. Agropecu. URL http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/ess_test_folder/World_Census_Agriculture/Country_info_2000/Reports_2/ECU_SPA_REP_2000.pdf (accessed 7.20.16).
Leal-Klevezas, D.S., Martı́nez-Vázquez, I.O., Garcı́a-Cantú, J., López-Merino, A., Martı́nez-Soriano, J.P., 2000. Use of polymerase chain reaction to detect Brucella abortus biovar 1 in infected goats, Veterinary Microbiology. doi:10.1016/S0378-1135(00)00200-5
Luna, L., Chávez, G., Mejía, L., Barragán, V., Trueba, G., 2016. Molecular Detection of Brucella Species in Ecuador. Intern J Appl Res Vet Med 14, 185–189.
Mancera, A., Ontiveros, M., 2001. Prueba de anillo en leche o anillo de Bang para el diagnóstico de brucelosis en bovinos, in: Díaz, E., Hernández, L., Valero, G., Arellano, B. (Eds.), Diagnóstico de Brucelosis Animal. México, pp. 79–83.
Manthei, C.A., 1952. Evaluation of vaccinal methods and doses of brucella abortus strain 19. Proc. 56th Annu. Meet. Livest. Sanit. Assoc. 115–125.
Meyer, M.E., Nelson, C.J., 1969. Persistence of Brucella abortus, strain 19 infection in immunized cattle., in: Proceedings, Annual Meeting of the United States Animal Health Association. p. 159.
Nicoletti, P., Milward, F.W., 1983. Protection by oral administration of brucella abortus strain 19 against an oral challenge exposure with a pathogenic strain of Brucella. Am. J. Vet. Res. 44, 1641–3.
OIE, 2016a. CHAPTER 2.1.4 Brucellosis (Brucella abortus, B. mellitensis and B. suis) [WWW Document]. OIE. URL http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/esp/Health_standards/tahm/2.01.04_BRUCELLOSIS.pdf (accessed 7.20.16).
OIE, 2016b. OIE World Animal Health Information System [WWW Document]. WAHIS Interface. URL http://www.oie.int/wahis_2/public/wahidwild.php/Countryinformation/Animalsituation (accessed 7.20.16).
Ortega-Sánchez, J.L., Martínez-Romero, A., García-Luján, C., Rodríguez-Martínez, R., 2009. Seroprevalencia de brucelosis caprina en el municipio de Tlahualilo, Durango. México. REDVET. Rev. Electrónica Vet. 10.
Pacheco, W.A., Genovez, M.E., Pozzi, C.R., Silva, L.M.P., Azevedo, S.S., Did, C.C., Piatti, R.M., Pinheiro, E.S., Castro, V., Miyashiro, S., Gambarini, M.L., 2012. Excretion of Brucella abortus vaccine B19 strain during a reproductive cycle in dairy cows. Braz. J. Microbiol. 43, 594–601. doi:10.1590/S1517-83822012000200022
PANAFTOSA, 2000. Brucelosis y Tuberculosis, situación de los programas en las Américas (No. 1). Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Poulsen, K.P., Hutchins, F.T., McNulty, C.M., Tremblay, M., Zabala, C., Barragan, V., Lopez, L., Trueba, G., Bethel, J.W., 2014. Brucellosis in dairy cattle and goats in northern Ecuador. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 90, 712–5. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.13-0362
Saegerman, C., Berkvens, D., Godfroid, J., Walravens, K., 2010. Bovine brucellosis, in: Lefèvre, P., Blancou, J., Chermette, R., Uilenberg, G. (Eds.), Infectious and Parasitic Disease of Livestock. Lovoisier, France, pp. 991–1021.
Sánchez, P., 1997. Diagnóstico de brucelosis caprina, en el Cantón Santa Isabel, mediante el método de aglutinación en placa, año 1996. Universidad de Cuenca.
StataCorp, 2015. Stata: Release 14. Statistical Software. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.
Tapia, N., 1998. Prevalencia de brucelosis caprina en el área “Centro Laja.” Universidad Nacional de Loja.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the International Centre for Zoonoses, Central University of Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador; the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; and the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk analysis applied to Veterinary Sciences, University of Liege, Belgium. The authors thank all farmers who participated in the study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ron-Román, J., Berkvens, D., Barzallo-Rivadeneira, D. et al. The unexpected discovery of Brucella abortus Buck 19 vaccine in goats from Ecuador underlines the importance of biosecurity measures. Trop Anim Health Prod 49, 569–574 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1229-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1229-4