Seroprevalence of bovine paratuberculosis in Arusha, Northern Tanzania

Bovine paratuberculosis or Johne’s disease is chronic, contagious granulomatous enteritis of cattle which is caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies Paratuberculosis (MAP). The disease was first reported in Tanzania in two farms located in Kilimanjaro region in 1960. Despite of quarantine measures that were instituted in the area between 1960-1963, additional cases were reported in Arusha (1976), Mpwapwa (1984), Morogoro (1994). The disease was last reported in the country more than 14 years ago at Kitulo dairy farm in Mbeya region. The paucity of cases has created an impression that the disease is absent from the country. However, the well-known persistence of (MAP) once introduced in the area suggests that the disease may still be present and spreading unnoticed in the country. To obtain information on current state of bovine paratuberculosis, a seroprevalence of the disease in cattle was conducted on bovine serum samples kept in the repository at the Arusha Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency. A total of 207 bovine sera that were collected from urban and peri-urban Arusha as part of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia surveillance in 2011 were tested for MAP-pecific antibodies using the commercial ELISA. The overall seroprevalence was 5.3% (95% CI: 2.3 to 8.4%). These results confirm presence of bovine paratuberculosis in Arusha and indicate the disease may be prevalent in other parts of the country. This is the first seroprevalence report for paratuberculosis in Tanzania.