Authors : Amr M. Mohamed, Hani Ghazi, Ahmed M. Ashshi, Hani S. Faidah and Esam I. Azhar
Abstract: The current research aimed to evaluate prevalence of RVF exposure among sacrifice animals during pilgrimage season in Saudi Arabia and to determine the vulnerability of the sacrifice herds based on its immune status. A total of 580 sacrifice animals including 120 local and 460 imported animals were randomly selected from the sacrifice herds at Al-Kaakiah slaughter houses, Mecca during the 2009 pilgrimage season. Blood samples were collected from all investigated animals for serum separation and conduction of capture and sandwich ELISA techniques for detection of anti-RVF virus IgM and IgG immunoglobulins, respectively. The study revealed an overall rate of recent RVF exposure, manifested by positive IgM sera, of 2.59% among investigated sacrifice animals (0.83% among local animals and 3.04% among imported ones). On the other hand, the overall herd rate of immunized animals based on the positive IgG cases were 47.06% (55% among local animals and 45% among imported ones). In spite of the low prevalence of recent RVF exposure among sacrifice animals, the low level of immunity among those animals increase the potential risk of eruption of another outbreak among sacrifice animals during pilgrimage with the subsequent socio-economic and public health consequences. The study clearly denotes the importance of applying an effective and controlled vaccination program for local animals and verification of the immune status of imported herds.
Amr M. Mohamed, Hani Ghazi, Ahmed M. Ashshi, Hani S. Faidah and Esam I. Azhar, 2011. Serological Survey of Rift Valley Fever among Sacrifice Animals in Holy Mecca During Pilgrimage Season. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 6: 85-89.