Abstract

Brucellosis is a zoonotic bacterial disease with worldwide distribution. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the serological prevalence of brucellosis in horses within Kano Metropolis. A total of 328 serum samples were collected for the study. Modified Rose Bengal Plate Test (mRBPT) was conducted on all the samples while the Serum Agglutination Test with EDTA (SAT-EDTA) was conducted on the mRBPT-positive samples. The prevalence of brucellosis in horses within the Kano metropolis was found to be 24.09 % (79/328) and 11.89 % (39/328) with mRBPT and SAT-EDTA respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the seropositivity by the tests used. From the study, 37 (23.27%) out of the 159 mares were seropositive for Brucella antibodies using mRBPT while 16 (43.24 %) were positive using SAT-EDTA. Similarly, of the 169 stallions, 38 (22.4 %) were positive using mRBPT and of these 22(57.89 %) were further positive by using SAT-EDTA. Unlike the age and use of the horses; location, sex, and breed were not significantly associated with the seroprevalence rate obtained in the study using mRBPT P

Key words: Brucella infection, Epidemiology, Horses, mRBPT, SAT-EDTA, Serology