Seroprevalence and risk factors assessment of Brucella spp. in dairy buffaloes in mainland Greece

Brucellosis is an infectious bacterial disease caused by members of the genus Brucella, affecting both humans and animals, resulting inserious economic losses in animal production sector as well as deterioration of public health. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to August of 2018 to determine the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of bovine brucellosis, in Regions of Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, North Greece. A total of 1,255 blood samples were collected using a simple random sampling technique from dairy buffaloes older than 12 months. All serum samples were analyzed with Rose Bengal Test for screening and Complement Fixation Test for confirmation of the positive samples. Accordingly, the overall individual-level seroprevalence of dairy buffaloes in the study area was 0.72% (9/1,255; 95% CI:0.32-1.36%) while the overall herd-level seroprevalence reached 15.38% (4/26; 95% CI:6.15-33.53%). Moreover, information was gathered on demographic characteristics of the farm owners, individual animals, herd level risk factors and other farm characteristics using a questionnaire. Higher prevalence of Brucella spp was observed in buffaloes bred under intensive and semi-intensive feeding systems, compared to those bred under extensive ones. High seroprevalence of brucellosis was also observed in medium size herds. Two of the herds provided available history data of the disease,during the last five years,while, in these two herds, delays in the implementation of brucellosis eradication programs were revealed. Overall, our study indicated that the occurrence of brucellosis in Greece dairy buffalo farms is at a low magnitude. Even though the seroprevalence is low, it can still be a potential hazard for both susceptible animals and humans.