Sero-Prevalence of Rift Valley Fever and Brucellosis in Cattle of Northern Benin, West Africa

Abstract

Abortive diseasessuch as Brucellosis and Rift Valley Fever are among the major constraints forruminant breeding due to the economic losses they cause for the animal keepersand the risk of human and environmental contamination. A serological study wasconducted, from August to October 2021, in the commune of Malanville to assessthe prevalence of the two diseases in Northern Benin. 92 blood samples wererandomly collected from 7 farms that acknowledge abortion occurrence within thelast 12 months. The sera resulting from collected blood samples were tested forRift Valley Fever virus and Brucella antibodies using the competition ELISA. The results showed that 13.04 and 17.39% ofthe samples were positive for Rift Valley Fever and brucellosis respectively.This indicates that although there is no official reported outbreaks of RiftValley Fever in Benin, the virus is circulating among the livestock population.Therefore to control the disease spread and protect the livestock keepers andanimal source food consumers' health, all the stakeholders including animal andhuman health experts, researchers, policymakers, relevant ministries, and livestockkeepers must develop a participatory control program of the disease for theyears to come using a One Health approach.