Epidemiological survey for brucella in wildlife and stray dogs, a cat and rodentscaptured on farms

Abstract

Brucella infections in wildlife originate either from contact with infected livestock or from a natural sustainable reservoir inwildlife populations. As South Korea has set a goal of brucellosis eradication by 2013, it is necessary to determine the prevalence ofBrucella in wildlife and wild rodents. This information will play an important role in the control of brucellosis. Because of the absenceof prominent clinical signs, direct and indirect laboratory tests are essential for diagnosing brucellosis. In this study, tissue and bloodsamples were taken from wild animals, abandoned dogs, a cat and wild rodents, and they were tested for Brucella or Brucella-specificantibodies by isolation, PCR and serology. Results showed that 18.6% (33/177) of blood samples were positive by PCR, and 5.7% (11/194) were positive by C-ELISA. However, none of these samples yielded culturable bacteria. Of the tissue samples, 9.7% (8/82) werepositive by PCR. Brucella was isolated from only one tissue culture from a Chinese water deer carcass. This Brucella species was identifiedas Brucella abortus biovar 1 by biotyping, 16S rRNA PCR and the Bruce-ladder PCR assay. In this study, we reported the prevalenceof Brucella in wildlife, dogs, a cat and rodents by using serological and molecular methods, and we report the first isolation ofB. abortus in wild Chinese water deer in South Korea.