Seroprevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in cattle from Karamoja region, North-eastern Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia [CBPP] is a transboundary animal disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides [Mmm]. CBPP causes severe economic losses to livestock producers in sub-Saharan Africa mainly due to high mortality, morbidity, reduction in productivity as well as livestock trade restrictions. This study aimed at determining seroprevalence of Mmm in cattle from Karamoja region, north-eastern Uganda; data that are required to design and implement risk based CBPP control program. METHODS: We randomly collected blood samples from 2,300 cattle spread across Karamoja region. Serum was extracted and screened for antibodies against Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides [Mmm] using the competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [cELISA]. RESULTS: A quarter [25.4%; 95% CI: 23.7-27.3] of the screened cattle [n = 2,300] were sero-positive for Mmm. Amudat and Kaabong districts recorded the lowest [12.3%] and highest [30.7%] Mmm seroprevalence respectively. Increasing age, overnight stay in cattle kraals and location [certain districts, villages, herds and sub counties] of the cattle herds, the factors that promote animal commingling, were the most significant risk factors of seroconversion with Mmm. CONCLUSION: Results from this study indicated a higher seroprevalence of Mmm in Karamoja region cattle herds. This could be due to the increased frequency of CBPP outbreaks in recent years. To be effective, CBPP vaccination programs should target high risk herds along the international borders and other hotspot areas [e.g., parishes or sub counties] where cattle commingling is high.

Analysis of patterns of livestock movements in the Cattle Corridor of Uganda for risk-based surveillance of infectious diseases.

Introduction: The knowledge of animal movements is key to formulating strategic animal disease control policies and carrying out targeted surveillance. This study describes the characteristics of district-level cattle, small ruminant, and pig trade networks in the Cattle Corridor of Uganda between 2019 and 2021. Methodology: The data for the study was extracted from 7,043 animal movement permits (AMPs) obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) of Uganda. Most of the data was on cattle (87.2%), followed by small ruminants (11.2%) and pigs (1.6%). Two types of networks representing animal shipments between districts were created for each species based on monthly (n = 30) and seasonal (n = 10) temporal windows. Measures of centrality and cohesiveness were computed for all the temporal windows and our analysis identified the most central districts in the networks. Results: The median in-degree for monthly networks ranged from 0-3 for cattle, 0-1 for small ruminants and 0-1 for pigs. The highest median out-degrees for cattle, small ruminant and pig monthly networks were observed in Lira, Oyam and Butambala districts, respectively. Unlike the pig networks, the cattle and small ruminant networks were found to be of small-world and free-scale topologies. Discussion: The cattle and small ruminant trade movement networks were also found to be highly connected, which could facilitate quick spread of infectious animal diseases across these networks. The findings from this study highlighted the significance of characterizing animal movement networks to inform surveillance, early detection, and subsequent control of infectious animal disease outbreaks.