African swine fever among slaughter pigs in Mubende district, Uganda
Loading...
Date
2012
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tropical animal health and production
Abstract
Owing to frequent reports of suspected outbreaks
and the presence of reservoir hosts and vectors (warthogs,
bush pigs and O. moubata ticks), African swine fever (ASF)
is believed to be an endemic disease in Uganda. There have,
however, been very few studies carried out to confirm its
existence in Uganda. This study was carried out to describe
the prevalence of ASF based on pathologic lesions and
analysis of serum samples from slaughtered pigs during a
suspected outbreak in the Mubende district of Uganda. The
study was based on visits to 22 slaughterhouses where
individual pigs were randomly selected for a detailed antemortem
and post-mortem inspections. Sera were also collected
for laboratory analysis. A total of 997 pigs (53.7%
male and 46.3% female) were examined for lesions suggestive
of ASF and sero-positivity of sera for ASF antibodies.
The sera were tested using enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA) and positive samples were further confirmed
with an immunoblot assay. The results showed that 3.8%
(38/997) of the pigs examined had clinical signs and postmortem
lesions suggestive of ASF. Two of 997 (0.2%) sera
analysed were positive for ASF antibodies. Of the subcounties
investigated, Bagezza (12%) and Kiyuni (11%)
had the highest prevalence of lesions suggestive of ASF
based on ante- and post-mortem examination results, while
Mubende town council (1.7%) had the lowest. This study
found a low number of pigs (3.8%) with lesions suggestive
of ASF at slaughter and an even lower number of pigs
(0.2%) that were seropositive at slaughter, however a significantly
higher number of pigs were slaughtered during
the outbreak as a strategy for farmers to avoid losses associated
with mortality.
Description
Keywords
Sero-prevalence, African swine fever, Pigs, Uganda
Citation
Muwonge, A., Munang’andu, H. M., Kankya, C., Biffa, D., Oura, C., Skjerve, E., & Oloya, J. (2012). African swine fever among slaughter pigs in Mubende district, Uganda. Tropical animal health and production, 44(7), 1593-1598. DOI 10.1007/s11250-012-0112-6