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Virulence of Brucella abortus isolated from cattle and water buffalo

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Abstract

Brucellosis has been documented in domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) but published literature is limited despite the importance of this species in tropical agricultural systems. The objective of this study was to compare the virulence of Brucella abortus isolates recovered from cattle and water buffalo. Nineteen strains of B. abortus from cattle and domestic water buffalo in Trinidad were intraperitoneally inoculated into BALB/c mice. Spleens were cultured for B. abortus and histopathological severity scores were calculated based on lymphoid depletion, lymphoid necrosis, splenitis, and macrophage accumulation. A general linear model approach was used to estimate the effect of isolate source (cattle versus water buffalo) on virulence. Isolates of water buffalo origin were significantly less virulent in the mouse model based on recovered B. abortus from splenic tissues, spleen/weight ratio, and lymphoid necrosis but not overall histopathological severity scores. Further investigation of isolates recovered from water buffalo might provide the key to the development of procedures for brucellosis control in tropical environments.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. Confirmed as B. abortus biovar 1 by the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Weybridge, UK

  2. Kindly provided by Drs. J. Payeur and B. Martin, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Ames, IA, USA

  3. Colorado Serum Company, Denver, CO, USA

  4. SPSS version 17.0, SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Campus Research Funds Committee, St. Augustine Campus for funding the research project. We are grateful to Drs. Michael Diptee and Anil Ramnanan for allowing the strains of B. abortus isolated from their studies available for the current investigation. The technical support provided by Kirk Williams, Sabita Singh and Elliot Neptune is appreciated.

Competing interests

The authors declare that there are no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Abiodun A. Adesiyun, Ravi Seebaransingh, Gabriel Brown, Simone Stoute & Alva Stewart-Johnson

  2. Faculty of Veterinary Science, Department of Production Animal Studies, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa

    Geoffrey T. Fosgate

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  1. Abiodun A. Adesiyun
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  2. Geoffrey T. Fosgate
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  3. Ravi Seebaransingh
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  4. Gabriel Brown
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  5. Simone Stoute
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  6. Alva Stewart-Johnson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geoffrey T. Fosgate.

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Adesiyun, A.A., Fosgate, G.T., Seebaransingh, R. et al. Virulence of Brucella abortus isolated from cattle and water buffalo. Trop Anim Health Prod 43, 13–16 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-010-9679-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-010-9679-y

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