Abstract:
Background: Brucellosis is an emerging yet neglected zoonosis that has been reported in Kenya. Epidemiological
data on brucellosis in ruminants is readily accessible; however, reports on brucellosis in pigs remain limited. This
study sought to detect Brucella infection in pig serum by both serological and molecular techniques. Serum from
700 pigs randomly collected at a centralized abattoir in Nairobi region, Kenya were screened in parallel, using both
Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and competitive Enzyme-Linked Immuno-sorbent Assay (cELISA) for antibodies against
Brucella spp. All sera positive by RBT and 16 randomly selected negative samples were further tested using
conventional PCR targeting bcsp31 gene and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) assays targeting IS711 and bcsp31 genes.
Results: A prevalence of 0.57% (n = 4/700) was estimated using RBT; none of these samples was positive on cELISA.
All RBT positive sera were also positive by both PCRs, while two sero-negative samples also tested positive on RTPCR
(n = 6/20). Brucella abortus was detected in four out of the six PCR positive samples through a real-time
multiplex PCR.
Conclusion: The detection of antibodies against Brucella spp. and DNA in serum from slaughterhouse pigs confirm
the presence of Brucella in pigs. Therefore, investigation of the epidemiology and role of pigs in the transmission of
brucellosis in Kenya is needed. Further targeted studies would be useful to systematically quantify and identify the
spp. of Brucella in pigs.
