Vet World Vol.13 September-2020 Article-34
Research Article
Veterinary World, 13(9): 1992-1997
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2020.1992-1997
Serological study on brucellosis in captive elephants (Elephas maximus) and stray dogs in North Thailand
2. The National Elephant Institute, The Forest Industry Organization, Lampang 52190, Thailand.
3. Clinic for Wildlife, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok 10530, Thailand.
4. Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.
5. Center for Agricultural Biotechnology, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.
6. Center of Excellence on Agricultural Biotechnology: (AG-BIO/PERDO-CHE), Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
Background and Aim: Brucellosis is considered as an important zoonotic disease caused by various strains of Brucella in numerous host species. Although brucellosis has been reported in almost animal species, the relevance of brucellosis infection and diagnostic technique in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) has been limited. The present serological investigation aimed to investigate the antibody response to Brucella abortus in captive Asian elephants in North Thailand. Moreover, further serological survey was also conducted to detect the antibody response to Brucella canis in stray dogs cohabiting the same area as the elephant herd.
Materials and Methods: Serum samples were collected from 40 captive Asian elephants and submitted for serological analysis based on B. abortus antigen using Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) in combination with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-tube agglutination test (EDTA-TAT) as a supplementary test and by commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). In addition, serum samples were also obtained from 16 stray dogs that live nearby the elephant-raising area and were tested using commercial Dot-ELISA based on B. canis antigen.
Results: Serological analysis in captive Asian elephants showed 100% seronegative (40/40) from all serological tests response to B. abortus. For stray dogs, 12.5% (2/16) had a low positive reaction response to B. canis.
Conclusion: The serological survey for brucellosis in Asian elephant was adapted and applied using RBPT, EDTA-TAT, and iELISA in the present study. For future evaluation, we recommended the use of a combination of serological tests with validation together with comparing by direct detection such as bacterial isolation to provide an appropriate brucellosis surveillance program in Asian elephants. In addition, the surveillance of stray dogs or multispecies habitation should be kept into considerations. Keywords: Asian elephants, brucellosis, serology, stray dogs.
Keywords: Asian elephants, brucellosis, serology, stray dogs.
How to cite this article: Ngamkala S, Angkawanish T, Nokkaew W, Thongtip N (2020) Serological study on brucellosis in captive elephants (Elephas maximus) and stray dogs in North Thailand, Veterinary World, 13(9): 1992-1997.
Received: 17-04-2020 Accepted: 14-08-2020 Published online: 26-09-2020
Corresponding author: Suchanit Ngamkala E-mail: cvtsnn@ku.ac.th
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.1992-1997
Copyright: Ngamkala, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.