Abstract:
Brucellosis is an infectious disease in domestic and wild animals with serious zoonotic and economic
implication, being more severe in developing countries. Cross sectional study was done in Salahley district
of western Somaliland with the objective of estimating seroprevalence, determine the potential risk factors of
camel Brucella and estimate its public health impact. Three areas were selected on the basis of their camel
population. Three hundred eighty-four camels and sixty camel owners were included for the study. Serum
sample was taken from the jugular vein camel and arm vein of human and the sera were tested using RBPT
as screening test and CFT as confirmatory test. The data were analyzed using STATA software 13 and
association of risk factors was done using unavailable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. The
overall individual and herd level significant of sero-prevalence of camel brucellosis in the study area were
4.6% and 6.7%, respectively. The seroprevalence with respect to district level was 2.8%, 5.5% and 5.9% in
Salahlay, Toon and Kabada district, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that age,
herd size, previous history of abortion and camels that are kept closely together with other ruminants to be
statistically significant risk factors for seropositivity of Brucella in camels with adjusted odds ratio (OR) of
3.14, 4.37, 6 .86 and 11.8, respectively. The overall seroprevalence of human brucellosis in the study areas
was 3.3%. Moreover, the questionnaire survey revealed that most respondents in the study area (97%) did not
know about zoonotic importance of Brucellosis and drink raw camel milk. Similarly, 63% of respondents
mentioned that they touch aborted fetus and placenta bare hand. The current study disclosed that camel
brucellosis is prevalent in the area; hence, the following recommendations are forwarded. Further
epidemiological studies involving the role of other ruminants for the occurrence of camel brucellosis and
transmission of the disease in pastoral areas is important, Awareness creation through public health
educational programmes on modern animal husbandry and management systems of animal diseases and risk
of zoonotic diseases including brucella is highly recommended