A sustainable laboratory approach for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) monitoring in Nigeria: Comparison between two serological tests in an endemic area complimented with post mortem lesions

Abstract

A study was carried out to develop a sustainable laboratory approach for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) monitoring using two serological tests and examination of lungs from slaughtered cattle in Maiduguri, Nigeria. A total of 500 lungs from 340 males and 160 females, aged between 1 and 5 years were examined at post-mortem (PM) for pneumonic lesions characteristic of CBPP. Out of this number, 92 (18.4%) showed typical lesions of CBPP. From the 92 lungs of cattle affected with CBPP, 36 (39%) and 56 (61%) were in the acute and chronic stages respectively. In order to determine the serological prevalence of CBPP using dot blot and complement fixation tests (CFT), 150 serum samples were collected from cattle with unaffected lungs, whilst 36 and 56 serum samples were obtained from those with acute and chronic lesions. Of the 150 serum samples from unaffected cattle, dot blot detected more positives 23 (15.3%) than CFT 18 (12.0%). Also dot blot detected more positive cases 35 (97%) and 41 (73.2%) than CFT in the acute and chronic stages of cattle with CBPP, respectively. The geometric mean (GM) CFT serum titres of 35.2, 40.2 and 63.5 from unaffected, acute and chronic stages of disease respectively, indicated a significant (P<0.05) sero-conversion and persistence of antibodies in the chronic stage (GM=63.5) than the other clinical stages. It is concluded that abattoir post mortem surveillance backed with a reliable, affordable and cheap diagnostic test, could improve the detection of this disease in CBPP endemic countries like Nigeria.