{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T08:41:56Z","timestamp":1790671316206,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,7]],"date-time":"2017-12-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1512604800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Veterinary Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sera from 432 small ruminants (335 sheep and 97 goats) from 72 farms in Duhok Province, northern Iraq, were collected to investigate risk factors associated with brucellosis seropositivity. Serum samples were tested using the Rose Bengal test (RBT) and an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). Using parallel interpretation, RBT and iELISA results showed that 31.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 26.1, 36.3) of sheep and 34.0% (95% CI: 24.7, 44.3) of goats had antibodies against Brucella in the study area. A random-effects multivariable logistic regression model indicated that a higher chance of being seropositive (odds ratio (OR) = 1.7; 95% 1.4; 2.2) was associated with an increase in the age of animals. The odds of Brucella seropositivity in flocks where sheep and goats grazed together was 2.0 times higher (95% CI: 1.08; 3.9) compared to flocks where sheep and goats grazed separately. The odds of Brucella seropositivity in small ruminants was 2.2 higher (95% CI: 1.2; 4.3) for animals originating from farms with a history of goat abortion in the preceding 12 months. In contrast, for every 1000 Iraqi Dinars (~0.85 US Dollar) spent by the farmers on control of Brucella in their flocks, the odds of Brucella seropositivity decreased significantly (OR = 0.9, p-value = 0.021). The final model also indicated significant differences in Brucella seropositivity between the different districts of Duhok Province. This study provides a contribution to the epidemiology of brucellosis in small ruminants in northern Iraq.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vetsci4040065","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,7]],"date-time":"2017-12-07T11:49:10Z","timestamp":1512647350000},"page":"65","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":24,"title":["Risk Factors Associated with Brucella Seropositivity in Sheep and Goats in Duhok Province, Iraq"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6863-8233","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ali.","family":"Alhamada","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth 6150, Australia"},{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Mosul, Mosul 41002, Iraq"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0938-0607","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ihab","family":"Habib","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth 6150, Australia"},{"name":"High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21516, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anne","family":"Barnes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth 6150, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4255-4752","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ian","family":"Robertson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth 6150, Australia"},{"name":"China-Australia Joint Research and Training Center for Veterinary Epidemiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"68","article-title":"Public Health and Economic Importance of Brucellosis: A Review","volume":"5","author":"Addis","year":"2015","journal-title":"Public Health"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1505","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajpath.2015.03.003","article-title":"Pathogenesis and Immunobiology of Brucellosis: Review of Brucella\u2014Host Interactions","volume":"185","author":"Ficht","year":"2015","journal-title":"Am. J. Pathol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1016\/j.smallrumres.2005.07.032","article-title":"Ovine and caprine brucellosis: World distribution and control\/eradication strategies in West Asia\/North Africa region","volume":"62","author":"Benkirane","year":"2006","journal-title":"Small Rumin. Res."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"489","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1863-2378.2011.01399.x","article-title":"Brucella melitensis infection following military duty in Iraq","volume":"58","author":"Bechtol","year":"2011","journal-title":"Zoonoses Public Health"},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"FAO (2009). Brucella melitensis in Eurasia and the Middle East. FAO Animal Production and Health, WHO and OIE Technical Bulletin, FAO."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.30539\/iraqijvm.v39i2.174","article-title":"Detection of Brucella antibodies of sheep and goats by using two serological tests in Al-Sulaimanya governorate","volume":"39","author":"Jabary","year":"2015","journal-title":"Iraqi J. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"3","article-title":"The Prevalence of Brucellosis in Goat and Sheep Milk Samples in Duhok District","volume":"14","author":"Turgay","year":"2016","journal-title":"Indian Vet. J."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"112","article-title":"Seroepidemiology of selected zoonotic infections in Basra region of Iraq","volume":"12","author":"Yacoub","year":"2006","journal-title":"East. Mediterr. Health J."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02237799","article-title":"The prevalence of brucellosis among sheep and goats in northern Iraq","volume":"11","author":"Karim","year":"1979","journal-title":"Trop. Anim. Health Prod."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Abdul-Khaleq, D. (2017, May 15). The Great Goat Flood Refugee Livestock Causing Crisis in Dohuk. Available online: http:\/\/www.niqash.org\/en\/articles\/economy\/3102\/."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.26719\/2013.19.2.125","article-title":"Health education and peer leaders\u2019 role in improving low vaccination coverage in Akre district, Kurdistan region, Iraq","volume":"19","author":"Rahman","year":"2013","journal-title":"East. Mediterr. Health J."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-1135(02)00248-1","article-title":"Incidence and control of brucellosis in the Near East region","volume":"90","author":"Refai","year":"2002","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-1135(80)90016-4","article-title":"Agglutination of Brucella abortus cells by sera from cattle experimentally infected with Escherichia coli","volume":"5","author":"Nielsen","year":"1980","journal-title":"Vet. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"309","DOI":"10.1128\/cdli.3.3.309-314.1996","article-title":"Characterization of a monoclonal antibody specific for Brucella smooth lipopolysaccharide and development of a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to improve the serological diagnosis of brucellosis","volume":"3","author":"Weynants","year":"1996","journal-title":"Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1186\/1751-0147-53-24","article-title":"Cattle brucellosis in traditional livestock husbandry practice in Southern and Eastern Ethiopia, and its zoonotic implication","volume":"53","author":"Megersa","year":"2011","journal-title":"Acta Vet. Scand."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1541","DOI":"10.1007\/s11250-010-9604-4","article-title":"A comparative study of the seroprevalence of brucellosis in commercial and small-scale mixed dairy\u2013beef cattle enterprises of Lusaka province and Chibombo district, Zambia","volume":"42","author":"Chimana","year":"2010","journal-title":"Trop. Anim. Health Prod."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.4142\/jvs.2005.6.3.223","article-title":"Prevalence of Brucella antibodies in sera of cows in Bangladesh","volume":"6","author":"Amin","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Vet. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"42","article-title":"Risk facts of small ruminant brucellosis: A cross-sectional study in Southeast Iran 2012","volume":"7","author":"Sharifi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Hum. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"485","DOI":"10.1016\/0167-5877(87)90033-X","article-title":"Animal Brucellosis, diseases caused by Brucella spp.","volume":"4","author":"Salman","year":"1987","journal-title":"Prev. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"271","article-title":"Survey of Brucellosis in sheep in Al-Anbar province","volume":"6","year":"2008","journal-title":"Al-Anbar J. Agric. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"300","DOI":"10.1016\/j.smallrumres.2007.02.002","article-title":"Prevalence of, and risk factors for, brucellosis in Awassi sheep in Southern Jordan","volume":"73","author":"Majok","year":"2007","journal-title":"Small Rumin. Res."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Nielsen, K., and Duncan, J.R. (1990). Brucella\u00a0melitensis. Animal Brucellosis, CRC Press."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Alton, G. (1982, January 10\u201315). An introduction to caprine brucellosis [Brucella melitensis]. Proceedings of the International Conference on Goat Production and Disease, Tucson, AZ, USA."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"867","article-title":"Human health benefits from livestock vaccination for brucellosis: Case study","volume":"81","author":"Roth","year":"2003","journal-title":"Bull. World Health Organ."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Mugabi, R. (2012). Brucellosis Epidemiology, Virulence Factors, Control and Molecular Targets to Prevent Bacterial Infectious Diseases. [Master\u2019s Thesis, North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Science]."}],"container-title":["Veterinary Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2306-7381\/4\/4\/65\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:53:03Z","timestamp":1760208783000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2306-7381\/4\/4\/65"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,7]]},"references-count":25,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,12]]}},"alternative-id":["vetsci4040065"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/vetsci4040065","relation":{},"ISSN":["2306-7381"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2306-7381","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,7]]}}}