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Evaluation of serological diagnostic tests for bovine brucellosis in dairy cattle herds in an endemic area: a multicenter study

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Abstract

Brucellosis is known as one of the most common zoonotic diseases worldwide affecting both livestock and humans. It causes abortions, reduces milk production, and infertility in infected animals. The disease is routinely diagnosed through three serological techniques, such as rose bengal plate test (RBPT), standard agglutination test (SAT), and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (I-ELISA). The aim of this study was to identify and compare the brucellosis seroprevalence among dairy cattle farms through these different serological tests. From 2112 sampled dairy cattle in different parts of Iran, RBPT, SAT, and I-ELISA led to 296 (14.02%), 215 (10.18%), and 297 (14.06%) positive results, respectively. Brucella abortus biovar 3 (62 cases) was identified as the most common cause of brucellosis in tested animals. Our results showed that the specificity and sensitivity of I-ELISA were higher than those obtained by RBPT and SAT. In this study, the overall agreement of RBPT and SAT with I-ELISA reached 95.21% and 94.12% in dairy cattle farms, respectively. Furthermore, Cohen’s kappa statistical analysis revealed that the best degree of agreement was seen between RBPT and I-ELISA (0.80), followed by RBPT and SAT (0.78) and finally SAT and I-ELISA (0.72), thereby indicating a strong agreement between RBPT and I-ELISA methods and good agreement between SAT and I-ELISA methods. The McNemar analysis also showed that a significant difference exists between positive and negative results determined by SAT and I-ELISA methods (p < 0.0001). However, the positive and negative results determined by I-ELISA and RBPT did not show a significant difference (p = 0.9207). Therefore, I-ELISA was a more specific and sensitive serological test when compared to RBPT and SAT and could remarkably decrease non-specific reaction by improving the serological screening specificity for an accurate brucellosis diagnosis in endemic areas.

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Data availability

The data used in this study will be available from the corresponding author.

Abbreviations

RBPT:

Rose bengal plate test

SAT:

Standard agglutination test

I-ELISA:

Indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

2-ME:

2-Mercaptoethanol

FPA:

Fluorescence polarization assay

MRT:

Milk ring test

CFT:

Complement fixation test

B. abortus :

Brucella abortus

B. melitensis :

Brucella melitensis

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the local veterinary organization staff whose support and collaboration made this study possible.

Funding

This study was supported by the grant 34–18-1857–013-980252 from the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute (RVSRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran. The funder had no role in the study design, data analysis, and decision to publish or the preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute (RVSRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

    Saeed Alamian, Afshar Etemadi, Ali Reza Yousefi & Maryam Dadar

  2. Iranian Veterinary Organization, Tehran, Iran

    Karim Amiry & Akram Bahreinipour

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  1. Saeed Alamian
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  2. Karim Amiry
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  3. Akram Bahreinipour
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Contributions

M.D. and S.A. designed the study; A.B., K.A., and A.E. collected the samples, interviewed the farmers, and conducted diagnosis tests; M.D. and A.Y. analyzed the data; M.D. wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Maryam Dadar.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

This survey was part of the national surveillance plan for brucellosis, and all the activities follow the ethics requirement of the plan. This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Iran, confirming that all experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations of OIE standards. Informed consent for the use of animals was obtained from the animal owners. Moreover, the study is reported in accordance with ARRIVE guidelines (https://arriveguidelines.org).

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Alamian, S., Amiry, K., Bahreinipour, A. et al. Evaluation of serological diagnostic tests for bovine brucellosis in dairy cattle herds in an endemic area: a multicenter study. Trop Anim Health Prod 55, 104 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-023-03519-1

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