Browsing by Author "Muller, S. K."

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Epidemiology of Brucella infection in the human, livestock and wildlife interface in the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem, Tanzania
(BMC Veterinary Research, 2015) Assenga, J. A.; Matemba, L. E.; Muller, S. K.; Muller, S. K.; Malakalinga, J. J.; Kazwala, R. R.
Background: Brucellosis is a zoonosis of public health importance worldwide. In Tanzania, the disease is underreported due to insufficient awareness, inadequate diagnostic protocols, including lack of appropriate reagents for diagnosis. Livestock and wildlife are considered potential sources of infection to humans; however, the role played by these carriers in the epidemiology of the disease in the ecosystems in Tanzania is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of anti-Brucella antibodies in humans, wildlife and livestock; and molecular prevalence of Brucella spp in cattle and goats in the Katavi- Rukwa ecosystem. Results: Anti-Brucella antibodies were detected in humans at 0.6 % (95 % CI: 0.1, 2.1 %); cattle at 6.8 % (95 % CI: 5.4, 8.5 %), goats at 1.6 % (95 % CI: 0.4, 4.1 %) and buffaloes at 7.9 % (95 % CI: 1.7, 21.4 %). One of the two sampled lions tested positive. Cattle had a significantly higher prevalence of anti-Brucella antibodies as compared to goats (P < 0.05). A significantly higher seroprevalence was found in female than in male cattle and in adult than in young cattle (P < 0.05). There was an agreement of 95 and 89 % in cattle and goats, respectively, for the Rose Bengal plate Test (RBPT) and Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (c-ELISA) in detecting Brucella infection. Eight (3.5 %) out of 231 milk samples tested were positive for Brucella spp on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and Brucella abortus biovar 1 was detected in cattle milk. However, no Brucella spp were detected in goat milk. Conclusion: This study has shown the presence of anti- Brucella antibodies in humans, livestock, and wildlife in the Katavi- Rukwa ecosystem. Transmission of the infection between wildlife, livestock and humans is likely to continue due to increasing human activities in the human wildlife interface. This information is an important contribution to public health policy development in the human wildlife interface of the Katavi- Rukwa ecosystem.
Predominant Leptospiral Serogroups circulating among humans, livestock and wildlife in Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem, Tanzania
(PLOS Neglected Tropical Disease, 2015-03-25) Assenga, J. A.; Matemba, L. E.; Muller, S. K.; Mhamphi, G. G.; Kazwala, R. R.
Background: Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease and a serious, under-reported public health problem, particularly in rural areas of Tanzania. In the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem, humans, livestock and wildlife live in close proximity, which exposes them to the risk of a number of zoonotic infectious diseases, including leptospirosis. Methodology/Principal Findings: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out in the Katavi region, South-west Tanzania, to determine the seroprevalence of Leptospira spp in humans, domestic rumi- nants and wildlife. Blood samples were collected from humans (n = 267), cattle (n = 1,103), goats (n = 248), buffaloes (n = 38), zebra (n = 2), lions (n = 2), rodents (n = 207) and shrews (n = 11). Decanted sera were tested using the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) for an- tibodies against six live serogroups belonging to the Leptospira spp , with a cutoff point of 1:160. The prevalence of leptospiral antibodies was 29.96% in humans, 30.37% in cattle, 8.47% in goats, 28.95% in buffaloes, 20.29% in rodents and 9.09% in shrews. Additionally, one of the two samples in lions was seropositive. A significant difference in the prevalence P < 0.05 was observed between cattle and goats. No significant difference in prevalence was observed with respect to age and sex in humans or any of the sampled animal species. The most prevalent serogroups with antibodies of Leptospira spp were Sejroe, Hebdoma- dis, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagie and Australis, which were detected in humans, cattle, goats and buffaloes; Sejroe and Grippotyphosa, which were detected in a lion; Aus- tralis, Icterohaemorrhagie and Grippotyphosa, which were detected in rodents; and Austra- lis, which was detected in shrews. Antibodies to serogroup Ballum were detected only in humans. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that leptospiral antibodies are widely prevalent in hu- mans, livestock and wildlife from the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem. The disease poses a seri- ous economic and public health threat in the study area. This epidemiological study provides information on circulating serogroups, which will be essential in designing inter- vention measures to reduce the risk of disease transmission.
Seroprevalence of leptospira infection from agro pastoralist communities in Katavi ecosystem, Tanzania
(2014-04-14) Muller, S. K.; Asenga, L. F.; Matemba, L.; Misinzo, G.; Kazwala, R.
Background: Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease of worldwide public health importance which affects both humans, domestic and wildlife. Our previous study in Katavi ecosystem showed that prevalence of leptospirosis in livestock was 28%. This predisposes the agro-pastoralist communities at high risk of the diseases. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is the gold standard technique for diagnosis of Leptospirosis. This cross sectional study intended to provide serological data for the circulating Leptospira species in Western part of Tanzania. Methods & Materials: 265 blood samples from healthy partici- pants living in Katavi ecosystem were collected in plain vacutainer tubes, centrifuged for sera collection and stored in liquid nitro- gen. Urine samples were also collected and cultured in Fletcher Leptospira media for isolation of live organism. To be certain of other causes of febrile illness in the region; Screening tests for malaria and brucellosis (mRDT and Rose Bengal) were done respec- tively. All samples were processed at Mpanda District Hospital and transported to Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) for further analysis. (MAT) was done using six known Leptospira interrogans serovars: Pomona, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Ballum, Tarassovi, Grippotyphosa and Hardjo. Starting with Serovar Grippothy- posa. Resulting agglutination titers were read using dark field microscopy. Results: Confirmed leptospirosis was outlined as a ≥ 4-fold increase in microscopic agglutination test (MAT) titer. Out of 265 participants, 3.8% were exposed to Leptospira Serovar Gryppoty- phosa, 5.6% (15) had significant positive titer for Leptospira Serovar Gryppotyphosa. Apart from Leptospirosis; 13.8% of participants were malaria positive and 1.4% were brucellosis positive. Among those negative for malaria and brucellosis; 13 (5.7%) had high pos- itive titer for Leptospirosis. 2 participants were co- infected with malaria and Leptospirosis. This is just preliminary results, results of other serovars will be completed in December 2013 Conclusion: This study detected the circulating Leptospira Serovars in agro-pastoralist communities living in Katavi ecosys- tem. Serovar Gryppotyphosa is among the circulating Leptospira serovars in Katavi region. This information is significant for better understanding of epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Katavi Region. Molecular techniques like PCR, whole order sequencing ought to be thought of in future studies.