TY - JOUR
T1 - Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Q Fever (Coxiella burnetii) Exposure in Smallholder Dairy Cattle in Tanzania
AU - Bwatota, Shedrack Festo
AU - Shirima, Gabriel Mkilema
AU - Hernandez Castro, Luis
AU - Bronsvoort, Mark
AU - Wheelhouse, Nick
AU - Mengele , Isaac Joseph
AU - Motto, Shabani Kiyabo
AU - Komwihangilo , Daniel Mushumbusi
AU - Lyatuu , Eliamoni
AU - Cook, Elizabeth Anne Jessie
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was conducted as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock. ILRI is supported by contributors to the CGIAR Trust Fund. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 Research Centres in close collaboration with hundreds of partners across the globe (www.cgiar.org) (accessed on 10 December 2018) This research was funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and with UK aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Grant Agreement OPP1127286) under the auspices of the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), established jointly by the University of Edinburgh, SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College), and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). This work was also supported by funding from the BBSRC (BBS/E/D/30002275). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
B.M.d.C.B.: E.A.J.C., S.F.B., I.J.M., S.K.M., and L.H.C were supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and by a UK aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (Grant Agreement OPP1127286) under the auspices of the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health established jointly by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College, and the ILRI. Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI) and the Local Government Authorities offices are recognized for their support. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/11/28
Y1 - 2022/11/28
N2 - Q fever is a zoonotic disease, resulting from infection with Coxiella burnetii. Infection in cattle can cause abortion and infertility, however, there is little epidemiological information regarding the disease in dairy cattle in Tanzania. Between July 2019 and October 2020, a serosurvey was con-ducted in six high dairy producing regions of Tanzania. Cattle sera were tested for antibodies to C. burnetii using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A mixed effect logistic regression model identified risk factors associated with C. burnetii seropositivity. A total of 79 out of 2049 dairy cattle tested positive with an overall seroprevalence of 3.9% (95% CI 3.06–4.78) across the six regions with the highest seroprevalence in Tanga region (8.21%, 95% CI 6.0–10.89). Risk factors associated with seropositivity included: extensive feeding management (OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.25–3.77), and low precipitation below 1000 mm (OR 2.76, 95% 1.37–7.21). The disease seroprevalence is relatively low in the high dairy cattle producing regions of Tanzania. Due to the zoonotic po-tential of the disease, future efforts should employ a “One Health” approach to understand the epidemi-ology, and for interdisciplinary control to reduce the impacts on animal and human health.
AB - Q fever is a zoonotic disease, resulting from infection with Coxiella burnetii. Infection in cattle can cause abortion and infertility, however, there is little epidemiological information regarding the disease in dairy cattle in Tanzania. Between July 2019 and October 2020, a serosurvey was con-ducted in six high dairy producing regions of Tanzania. Cattle sera were tested for antibodies to C. burnetii using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A mixed effect logistic regression model identified risk factors associated with C. burnetii seropositivity. A total of 79 out of 2049 dairy cattle tested positive with an overall seroprevalence of 3.9% (95% CI 3.06–4.78) across the six regions with the highest seroprevalence in Tanga region (8.21%, 95% CI 6.0–10.89). Risk factors associated with seropositivity included: extensive feeding management (OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.25–3.77), and low precipitation below 1000 mm (OR 2.76, 95% 1.37–7.21). The disease seroprevalence is relatively low in the high dairy cattle producing regions of Tanzania. Due to the zoonotic po-tential of the disease, future efforts should employ a “One Health” approach to understand the epidemi-ology, and for interdisciplinary control to reduce the impacts on animal and human health.
KW - Q fever
KW - coxiellosis
KW - Coxiella burnetii
KW - seroprevalence
KW - dairy cattle
KW - Tanzania
U2 - 10.3390/vetsci9120662
DO - 10.3390/vetsci9120662
M3 - Article
C2 - 36548823
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - Veterinary Sciences
JF - Veterinary Sciences
SN - 2306-7381
IS - 12
M1 - 662
ER -