Vet World   Vol.16   June-2023  Article-16

Seroprevalence and risk factors of bovine fasciolosis in the municipalities of Colombia

Background and Aim: Bovine fasciolosis is a reemerging neglected disease with a worldwide distribution caused by the trematode Fasciola spp., which parasitize various hosts. Bovine fasciolosis is responsible for large economic losses in the bovine livestock sector. This study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence and risk factors of bovine fasciolosis in the municipalities of Colombia.

Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with simple random sampling conducted on 1140 cattle from the municipalities of Chiquinquir´, San Miguel de Sema, and Ubaté for a duration of 3 months. Serum samples were processed using the commercial Fasciola hepatica Antibody Test Kit IDEXX® Fasciolosis Verification (IDEXX, United States), which identified immunoglobulin G antibodies for gf2 antigen purified from Fasciola extracts. The f2 antigen is extremely immunogenic and highly specific for F. hepatica. An epidemiological survey was performed to record variables related to the sampled animals and herd management practices. Data were processed using the statistical program Epi Info® (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, Georgia). The prevalence ratio was estimated to evaluate the association between fasciolosis and the hypothesized causal factors and the significance of this association using Pearson’s Chi-square test. Finally, a logistic regression model was developed.

Results: The overall seroprevalence was 72.3%. The seroprevalence was 83.9% (323/385) in Chiquinquirá, 68.17% (257/377) in Ubaté, and 64.55% (244/378) in San Miguel de Sema. The seroprevalence was higher in male animals in Chiquinquirá and in female animals in San Miguel de Sema and Ubaté. Similarly, sex showed a statistically significant association with disease prevalence in Ubaté. The highest prevalence was found in cattle aged >2 years. The Holstein breed showed maximum seroprevalence in Chiquinquirá (p ≤ 0.05) and San Miguel de Sema, whereas crossbreed showed higher seroprevalence in Ubaté. Similarly, in Chiquinquirá, the association between the seroprevalence of fasciolosis and the presence of other species was statistically significant (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9601–3.4944; p = 0.0448). In Ubaté, the disease presentation was also associated with pasture rental (95% CI: 0.4047–1.0023; p = 0.003) and attendance to livestock expositions (95% CI: 0.2313–1.0636; p = 0.044). However, in San Miguel de Sema, water from the stream showed a statistically significant association with disease presentation (95% CI: 0.5209–1.0985; p = 0.00649785). Female sex and diarrhea occurrence were considered risk factors for fasciolosis.

Conclusion: A high seroprevalence of antibodies to Fasciola spp. was detected in cattle in the study municipalities, indicating a high parasite distribution in these areas. Female sex and diarrhea were established as risk factors associated with fasciolosis in Ubaté and San Miguel de Sema, respectively. Further, research is necessary to establish prevention and control programs against parasitosis. Keywords: bovine, fasciolosis, risk factors, seroprevalence.

Keywords: bovine, fasciolosis, risk factors, seroprevalence.

How to cite this article: Bulla-Castañeda DM, Lancheros-Buitrago DJ, García-Corredor DJ, Giraldo-Forero JC, and Pulido-Medellin MO (2023) Seroprevalence and risk factors of bovine fasciolosis in the municipalities of Colombia, Veterinary World, 16(6): 1293-1300.

Received: 27-02-2023  Accepted: 15-05-2023     Published online: 13-06-2023

Corresponding author: Martin Orlando Pulido-Medellin   E-mail: martin.pulido@uptc.edu.co

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.1293-1300

Copyright: Bulla-Castañeda, 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.