Seropositivity of Brucellosis in swine population of selected Indian states: warranting the need for future surveillance

Brucellosis is a highly contagious re-emerging zoonotic disease that affects livestock and poses significant threat to public health.It is endemic in India, with the prevalence ranging from 6.5% to 16.4% among different livestock species.The disease causes significant economic loss to the livestock sector in the country.Extensive work has been undertaken to assess the burden of brucellosis in ruminants, however, only few studies have reported the significance of swine brucellosis as a public health concern in India.Despite having the fifth highest pig population in the world, brucellosis in pigs is often overlooked in the country.Therefore, the present study was undertaken to determine the seropositivity of brucellosis in the swine population of selected Indian states.Under this study, a total of 390 swine serum samples collected randomly across 16 districts of five Indian states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Assam, and Tamil Nadu were screened using RBPT.Among the 390 swine sera samples, antibodies against Brucella were detected in 26 samples with an overall seropositivity of 6.5% (95% CI: 4.5-9.5).Maximum seropositivity was reported from the state of Maharashtra (10.5%; 95% CI: 5.6-18.9)followed by Uttar-Pradesh (8.8%; 95% CI: 4.5-6.5),Uttarakhand (6.6%; 95% CI: 1.8-2.1),Assam (5.7%; 95% CI: 2.6-11.9),and Tamil Nadu (1.2%; 0.2-6.7).In addition to this, our findings reported the presence of brucellosis in swine population of Uttarakhand for the first time which underscores the need for further investigation of brucellosis in swine herds in the other states of India.