Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Brucella infection found in household dogs in southwestern Nigeria
By Cadmus, S I B et al.·Published in Journal of the South African Veterinary Association·2011·Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Seroprevalence of Brucella abortus and B. canis in household dogs in southwestern Nigeria: a preliminary report.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 366 household dogs in southwestern Nigeria was tested for exposure to two types of bacteria, Brucella abortus and B. canis, which can cause infections. The tests showed that about 5.5% of the dogs had antibodies for B. abortus, and only 0.3% for B. canis. Notably, dogs that had been fed cow fetuses were more likely to test positive for B. abortus. This suggests that some dogs in Nigeria may be at risk for brucellosis, a disease that can also affect humans, highlighting the need for further research on this issue.
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Abstract
A preliminary serological study of 366 household dogs in Lagos and Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, was carried out to determine antibodies due to exposure to Brucella abortus and B. canis, using the rose bengal test (RBT) and the rapid slide agglutination (RSA) test, respectively. Results showed that 5.46 % (20/366) and 0.27 % (1/366) of the dogs screened were seropositive to B. abortus and B. canis, respectively. Of all dogs, 36 had a history of being fed foetuses from cows and 11 (30.6 %) of these tested positive in the RBT. Our findings, although based on a limited sample size and a dearth of clinical details, revealed that dogs in Nigeria may be infected with Brucella spp. given the wide range of risk factors. Further studies are recommended to elucidate the epidemiology of brucellosis in dogs and its possible zoonotic consequences in the country.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21826840/