Diagnosis of brucellosis in sheep and goats raw milk by fast and reliable techniques

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of brucellosis in sheep and goats’ raw milk samples by detecting anti-Brucella antibodies and Brucella species at Erbil governorate. A total of 320 raw milk samples (150 sheep milk and 170 goats milk) were irregularly collected from dairy females. The overall occurrence of Brucella antibodies in samples of sheep and goats raw milk was 11.6% and 9.7% according to MRT and indirect ELISA, respectively. Isolation of Brucella (B.) species from samples of raw milk was 7.8%. The isolated species of Brucella were B. melitensis and B. abortus. A noticeable increase in frequency during September to November was observed. In conclusion, brucellosis is still a considerable public health threat in the Erbil. Based on the tests performance, the study recommends MRT in standard observing of brucellosis in milk aggregate farms, centers, and dairy manufactories. Customers are also recommended to adequately pasteurize the milk in order to damage this milk-borne pathogen before ingestion or saleable handling.