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

Abstract

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