scholarly journals Seropositivity and associated intrinsic and extrinsic factors for Rift Valley fever virus occurrence in pastoral herds of Nigeria: A cross sectional survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nma Bida Alhaji ◽  
Jibrin Aminu ◽  
Mohammed Kabir Lawan ◽  
Olutayo Olajide Babalobi ◽  
Ibrahim Ghali-Mohammed ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a vector-borne emerging zoonotic disease of animals and humans, characterized by major socioeconomic losses to livestock farmers, with potential global public health threat. The study determined RVFV seroprevalence in cattle, as well as assessed pastoralists’ existing knowledge about the diseases, and factors that influence RVFV occurrence in pastoral cattle herds of Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in pastoral herds of North-central Nigeria from 2017 to 2018. Data collections were carried out using serology and questionnaire tools. Descriptive statistics, using frequencies and proportions, were used to analyze data obtained from the survey. Categorical variables were presented as proportions and their associations determined by Chi-square tests. Associations of risk factors were analyzed by univariable and multivariable logistic regressions analyses at 95% confidence level. Results: The overall IgM seropositivity of RVFV in pastoral cattle herds of North-central Nigeria was 5.6%. This was higher in nomadic cattle (7.4%) than agro-pastoral animals (3.8%). All animal demographic characteristics of age, sex and breeds were not significantly (p>0.05) associated with RVFV occurrence in pastoral herds. All the 403 pastoralists selected participated in the study, with the majorities of respondents being male, married and having formal education. Majority of the pastoralists had low knowledge levels about zoonotic RVFV infection. However, all identified socio-ecological factors significantly (p<0.05) influenced RVFV occurrence in pastoral cattle herds. Mosquitoes availability in cattle herds environment (OR=7.81; 95% CI: 4.85, 12.37), presence of rivers and streams at grazing fields (OR=10.80; 95% CI: 6.77, 17.34), high rainfall (OR=4.30; 95% CI: 2.74, 6.59), irrigated rice fields (OR=5.14; 95% CI: 3.21, 7.79) , bushy vegetation (OR=6.11; 95% CI: 3.96, 9.43), animal movement (OR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.45, 3.25), and seasons (OR=2.34; 95% CI: 1.55, 3.51) were more likely to influence RVFV occurrence in pastoral cattle herds. Conclusions: The results of this study illustrated recent circulation of RVFV in pastoral cattle herds of Nigeria and needs urgent interventions. Low levels of knowledge about RVF were also highlighted amongst surveyed pastoralists and identified socio-ecological factors significantly influenced RVFV occurrence in herds. Adequate knowledge about RVF epidemiology will assure food security and public health.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nma Bida Alhaji ◽  
Jibrin Aminu ◽  
Mohammed Kabir Lawan ◽  
Olutayo Olajide Babalobi ◽  
Ibrahim Ghali-Mohammed ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a vector-borne emerging zoonotic disease of animals and humans characterized by major socioeconomic losses to livestock farmers, with potential global public health threat. The study assessed herders’ existing knowledge, sero-prevalence and factors influencing the occurrence of RVF in cattle herds. Methods: A cross-sectional study using questionnaire and determination of IgM was conducted among pastoral herds. Frequencies and proportions were used for descriptive analysis. Categorical variables were presented as proportions and their associations determined by Chi-square tests. Associations were analyzed by univariable tests and multivariable logistic regressions analysis at 95% confidence level. Results: All 403 pastoralists (50.5±15.5 years) participated in this study with the majority of respondents being male, married and had no formal education. The majority of the pastoralists reported low knowledge about zoonotic RVF infections. The within-herd seropositivity of RVF in Nigeria is 5.6% which was higher under nomadic (7.4%) than agro-pastoral (3.8%) settings. All animal demographic characteristics of age, sex and breeds were not significantly (p>0.05) associated with occurrence of RVF in pastoral cattle herds. However, all the socio-ecological factors significantly (p<0.05) influenced RVF occurrence in pastoral settlements. However, availability of mosquitoes in the pastoral environments (OR=7.81; 95% CI: 4.85, 12.37), presence of rivers and streams in grazing fields (OR=10.80; 95% CI: 6.77, 17.34), high rainfall (OR=4.30; 95% CI: 2.74, 6.59), irrigated rice fields (OR=5.14; 95% CI: 3.21, 7.79) and bushy vegetation and (OR=6.11; 95% CI: 3.96, 9.43), animal movement (OR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.45, 3.25) and seasonal variations (OR=2.34; 95% CI: 1.55, 3.51) were more likely to influence RVF occurrence in pastoral herds. Conclusions: This study highlighted low levels of knowledge about RVF among surveyed pastoralists as well as socio-ecological factors contributory to RVF occurrence. This study illustrates recent circulation of RVFV in Nigeria and needs urgent interventions. This challenging gap calls for health education of these vulnerable populations on the socio-economic and health threats of RVF in the remote rural areas of developing countries, especially Africa.


EcoHealth ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 729-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tabitha Kimani ◽  
Esther Schelling ◽  
Bernard Bett ◽  
Margaret Ngigi ◽  
Tom Randolph ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. e1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Heinrich ◽  
Elmar Saathoff ◽  
Nina Weller ◽  
Petra Clowes ◽  
Inge Kroidl ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. e0008100
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ibrahim ◽  
Esther Schelling ◽  
Jakob Zinsstag ◽  
Jan Hattendorf ◽  
Emawayish Andargie ◽  
...  

Information on zoonotic diseases in humans and livestock are limited in pastoral/agro-pastoral communities in Ethiopia. A multi-stage cross sectional cluster design study was implemented with the aim to establish the seroprevalence of zoonotic diseases including brucellosis, Q-fever and Rift Valley fever (RVF) in humans and livestock in Adadle Woreda of the Somali Region, Ethiopia. Blood samples were collected from humans and livestock and tested by relevant serological tests. For brucellosis, Rose Bengal test (RBT) and indirect ELISA was used for screening and confirmatory diagnosis respectively. Indirect and competitive ELISA were also used for Q-fever and RVF respectively. The individual seropositivity of Q-fever in livestock was 9.6% (95% CI 5.9–15.1) in cattle, 55.7% (95% CI 46.0–65.0) in camels, 48.8% (95% CI 42.5–55.0) in goats, and 28.9% (95% CI 25.0–33.2) in sheep. In humans, seropositivity of Q-fever was 27.0% (95% CI 20.4–34.0), with prevalence in males of 28.9% vs 24.2% in females (OR = 1.3; 95% CI 0.6–2.5). Camel seropositivity of Q-fever was significantly associated with age (OR = 8.1; 95% CI 2.8–23.7). The individual apparent seroprevalence of RVF was 13.2% (95% CI 8.7–18.8) in humans, 17.9% (95% CI 11.0–27.8) in cattle, 42.6% (95% CI 34.8–50.7) in camels, 6.3% (95% CI 3.3–11.6) in goats and 7.4% (95% CI 4.7–11.5) in sheep. Camels had the highest seropositivity of both Q-fever and RVF. Only a weak correlation was observed between human and livestock seropositivity for both Q-fever and RVF. Only cattle and camels were seropositive for brucellosis by iELISA. The individual seroprevalence of brucellosis was 2.8(0.9–6.4) in humans, 1.5% (95% CI 0.2–5.2) in cattle and 0.6% (95% CI 0.0–3.2) in camels. This study showed the importance of zoonoses in Somali Region and is the first published study to describe RVF exposure in humans and livestock in the country. Even though human exposure to RVF virus was reported, public health sector of Somali Region has not given attention to such zoonoses. Collaboration between public and animal health sectors for further investigation on these zoonoses using the One Health concept is indispensable.


2018 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Bett ◽  
J. Lindahl ◽  
R. Sang ◽  
M. Wainaina ◽  
S. Kairu-Wanyoike ◽  
...  

AbstractWe implemented a cross-sectional study in Tana River County, Kenya, a Rift Valley fever (RVF)-endemic area, to quantify the strength of association between RVF virus (RVFv) seroprevalences in livestock and humans, and their respective intra-cluster correlation coefficients (ICCs). The study involved 1932 livestock from 152 households and 552 humans from 170 households. Serum samples were collected and screened for anti-RVFv immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies using inhibition IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data collected were analysed using generalised linear mixed effects models, with herd/household and village being fitted as random variables. The overall RVFv seroprevalences in livestock and humans were 25.41% (95% confidence interval (CI) 23.49–27.42%) and 21.20% (17.86–24.85%), respectively. The presence of at least one seropositive animal in a household was associated with an increased odds of exposure in people of 2.23 (95% CI 1.03–4.84). The ICCs associated with RVF virus seroprevalence in livestock were 0.30 (95% CI 0.19–0.44) and 0.22 (95% CI 0.12–0.38) within and between herds, respectively. These findings suggest that there is a greater variability of RVF virus exposure between than within herds. We discuss ways of using these ICC estimates in observational surveys for RVF in endemic areas and postulate that the design of the sentinel herd surveillance should consider patterns of RVF clustering to enhance its effectiveness as an early warning system for RVF epidemics.


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