Jacques Godfroid

UiT The Arctic University of Norway · Department of Arctic and Marine Biology

Author summary Brucellosis is a neglected, bacterial zoonotic disease that is caused by several species of the genus Brucella. Cross-species transmission of Brucella can occur in mixed or integrated farming systems. The disease poses serious public health implications and substantial economic losses particularly in low-income countries including So...

Bacteria of the genus Brucella are facultative intracellular parasites that cause brucellosis, a severe animal and human disease. Recently, a group of taxonomists merged the brucellae with the primarily free-living, phylogenetically related Ochrobactrum spp. in the genus Brucella. This change, founded only on global genomic analysis and the fortuit...

Brucellosis imposes substantial impacts on livestock production and public health worldwide. A stochastic, age-structured model incorporating herd demographics was developed describing within- and between-herd transmission of Brucella abortus in dairy cattle herds. The model was fitted to data from a cross-sectional study conducted in Punjab State...

The presence of Brucella infections was documented in a large number of aquatic mammals, affecting wild animals living in oceans, seas, lakes and rivers within both northern and southern hemispheres. Through meta‑regression analysis, this study provides acom prehensive view of the prevalence of Brucella spp. in aquatic mammals, identifying risksu b...

Background The scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah) (SHO) is a large African antelope that became extinct in the wild just over two decades ago. Conservation of the species is of prime importance, but it might face pathogen stressors. Methods and principal findings Brucella melitensis biovar 1 was previously confirmed in a high-density captive popul...

Camel brucellosis is a widespread and critical zoonotic infection caused by Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis that negatively impact dairy and meat products. The current meta-analysis covers studies published over a course of 40 years, between 1 January 1980 and 1 April 2021, aiming to investigate the global prevalence of Brucella spp. in ca...

Brucellosis imposes substantial impacts on livestock production and public health worldwide. A stochastic, age-structured model incorporating herd demographics was developed describing within- and between- herd transmission of Brucella abortus in dairy cattle herds. The model was fitted to data from a cross-sectional study conducted in Punjab State...

Import of roughage to Norway may introduce novel plant pests, invasive plants and disease-causing pathogens to both animals and humans. However, there is a high level of uncertainty behind these conclusions.

Background Azerbaijan currently ranks thirteenth in global incidence of human brucellosis, with an estimated annual incidence through 2000 at over 50 cases per million. Brucella melitensis has been isolated from patients and is thought to have been acquired through contact with small ruminants or as a foodborne infection. To reduce the burden of hu...

In 2013, Brucella melitensis biovar 1 was recovered from the stomach contents of a scimitar-horned Oryx - SHO (Oryx dammah) aborted foetus, and from the articular fluid of a sand gazelle (Gazella marica) in a captive wildlife collection near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Other evidence of exposure to the pathogen was collected through serologica...

Brucellosis is a neglected zoonotic bacterial disease in most of the developing world that has a significant impact on public health. The prevalence of brucellosis in livestock, particularly in large and small ruminants is variable in many countries and seems to remain high, especially amongst subsistence and small-scale livestock farmers. There ar...

Background: Brucellosis is a neglected debilitating zoonosis widely recognized as an occupational health hazard. The seroprevalence of human anti-Brucella antibodies in high-risk populations, as well as their risk factors, have not been well-documented in Zambia. This study aimed at estimating the Brucella seroprevalence in herdsmen and abattoir wo...

Disease resistance of fish larvae may be improved by bath treatment in water containing immunostimulants. Pattern recognition receptors, such as TLR3, TLR7, and MDA5, work as an “early warning” to induce intracellular signaling and facilitate an antiviral response. A single bath of newly hatched larvae, with Astragalus, upregulated the expression o...

There is paucity of Brucella prevalence data in Malawi. For this reason, a cross-sectional study was conducted, from 06 January 2020 to 27 February 2020, to estimate the seroprevalence of brucellosis in dairy cattle herds amongst smallholder farmers, government and private dairy farms in the southern region. A total of 529 serum samples were screen...

Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease caused by members of the genus Brucella. Camel brucellosis has been reported in almost all camel-rearing countries in Africa and Asia. A cross- sectional study was conducted between February 2020 and February 2021 in Galkayo, Garowe, and Bosaso districts in the Puntland State of Somalia to investigate th...

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to recalculate the efficacy of Brucella abortus S19 and RB51 vaccine strains and discuss the main variables associated with controlled trials to evaluate bovine brucellosis vaccine efficacy. The most commonly used vaccine strain was S19, at a dose of 10¹⁰ colony forming units (CFU), followed by RB51 at...

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to recalculate the efficacy of these two vaccine strains, and to discuss the main variables associated with controlled trials to evaluate bovine brucellosis vaccines efficacy. The most used vaccine strain was S19, at the dose of 10 colony forming units (CFU), followed by the vaccine strain RB51 at 10 C...

This study aimed to consolidate current knowledge of wildlife brucellosis in Africa and to analyse available predictors of infection. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed. Information on species, test used, test results, area, rainfall, livestock and wildlife contact and year of study were...

Brucellosis is an infectious zoonosis that has huge economic and public health implications globally. The disease is prevalent in humans, livestock and wildlife in Sub-Saharan Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 6 May 2017 and 31 July 2020 during which 1712 sera from 175 cattle herds in five districts from Southern, Western and Ea...

Brucellosis is an infectious zoonosis that has huge economic and public health implications globally. The disease is prevalent in humans, livestock and wildlife in Sub Saharan Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 6 th May 2017 and 31 st July 2020 during which 1712 sera from 177 cattle herds in Southern, Western and Eastern province...

Brucellosis is a widespread zoonotic disease with serious consequences on human and animal health. Brucella infections were reported in many terrestrial wild animals, from subtropical and temperate regions to arctic regions. In many areas, the epidemiology of brucellosis in wildlife is closely associated with the occurrence of the disease in livest...

Although shedding of zoonotic brucellae in milk has been demonstrated in natural hosts, these data are still missing for the standard murine infection model. We therefore analysed shedding kinetics and the niche of B. melitensis in murine milk. Pregnant Balb/cByJ mice were intraperitoneally infected with 105 CFU of the 16 M reference strain, a 16 M...

This report describes a mixed Mycobacterium avium subspecies avium and M avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection in a free-ranging red deer ( Cervus elaphus ). The gross presentation was consistent with clinical paratuberculosis as previously reported in red deer and for other ruminants, with poor body condition, diarrhoea and mesenteric lympha...

A number of virological, epidemiological, and ethnographic arguments suggest that COVID-19 has a zoonotic origin. The pangolin, a species threatened with extinction due to poaching for both culinary purposes and traditional Chinese pharmacopeia, is now suspected of being the “missing link” in the transmission to humans of a virus that probably orig...

The salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) causes problems in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) aquaculture in the Northern Hemisphere, because infestations can result in both a loss of production and in fish mortality. Several types of treatment have been used to control louse infestations, but these have seen varying success. The aim of this review i...

The deer ked ( Lipoptena cervi), a hematophagous ectoparasite of cervids, is currently spreading in Scandinavia, and the moose ( Alces alces) is its main host. However, little is known about the impact of deer keds on moose. We analyzed the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) from 262 moose harvested in the fall in relation to age class, sex, body ma...

In the originally published article, the name of the fifth author was incorrectly presented as Godfroid Jacques. The correct name is Jacques Godfroid.

Background: In this study, we focused on three zoonotic brucellosis risk groups; abattoir workers, febrile cases at Wau hospital and cattle herders, in Bahr el Ghazal region, South Sudan. Competitive c-ELISA was used to detect anti-Brucella antibodies in 725 individuals between December 2015 and May 2016. In addition, questionnaire metadata, focus...

Background Brucellosis is an infectious zoonotic disease and is common especially among pastoral communities in most low and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to determine sero-prevalence, and risk factors of Brucella infection among Slaughterhouse workers, in Bahr el Ghazal region, South Sudan. Methods A cross sectional study was...

The objective of this study was to investigate causal associations between cattle farms’ management practices and reproductive disorders (abortion, stillbirth, retention of placenta, metritis). Besides, direct causal associations between farms’ management and reproductive infections (Chlamydia abortus, Coxiella burnetii, and Neospora caninum), repr...

The environmental temperature has profound effects on biological systems of marine aquatic organisms and plays a critical role in species distribution and abundance. Particularly during the warmer seasons, variations in habitat temperature may introduce episodes of stressful temperatures which the organisms must adapt to and compensate for to maint...

The importance of infectious diseases originating from or carried by wildlife is increasingly being recognised. An understanding of these diseases is based on knowledge of their epidemiology; thus, it is essential to gather pathogen data which are region-specific. The objective of this review was to provide an update on changes in the epidemiology...

Brucella infections in wildlife have gained a lot of interest from the scientific community and different stakeholders. These interests are often different and sometimes conflicting. As a result, different management perspectives and aims have been implemented (One Health, public health, veterinary public health, maintenance of a brucellosis free s...

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of public health importance; its prevalence varies globally. In low-income countries, brucellosis is an endemic and neglected disease affecting both animals and humans. This study was intended to establish brucellosis sero-prevalence among patients attending Wau hospital, South Sudan. Across sectional study, was do...

Participants consents. (DOCX)

Export permit from Ministry of livestock and fisheries industry, South Sudan. (PDF)

Approval from Makerere University Institutional Review Board. (PDF)

Import permit from Ministry of Agriculture, animal industry and fisheries (MAAIF) Uganda. (PDF)

Approval from ministry of health (MOH), South Sudan to collect human and animal samples. (PDF)

Human dataset used for analysis. (SAV)

Background Brucellosis is a worldwide recognized bacterial zoonotic disease. There is currently no information on bovine brucellosis sero-prevalence in South Sudan regardless of the economic, social and public health impact on populations. Therefore, for the first time in 33 years, we report the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in cattle and their he...

Approval from Makerere University Institutional Review Board. (PDF)

Approval from ministry of health (MOH), South Sudan to collect human and animal samples. (PDF)

Approval from Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries South Sudan. (PDF)

Animal dataset used for analysis. (SAV)

Export permit from Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Industry, South Sudan. (PDF)

Human dataset used for analysis. (SAV)

Import Permit from Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Uganda. (PDF)

A cross-sectional study was carried out between November 2015 and January 2016 to determine the seroprevalence of Brucella antibodies in cattle raised under communal, fenced farms and tethering systems and the associated factors. Seven hundred twenty-eight bovine sera were collected and tested with rose Bengal test as a screening test and the indir...

A lack of surveillance and diagnostics for zoonotic diseases in rural human clinics limits clinical awareness of these diseases. We assessed the prevalence of nine zoonotic pathogens in a pastoral, low-income, HIV-endemic community bordering wildlife reserves in South Africa. Two groups of participants were included: malaria-negative acute febrile...

Brucellosis is of worldwide economic and public health importance. Heifer vaccination with live attenuated Brucella abortus strain 19 (S19) is the cornerstone of control in low- and middle-income countries. Antibody persistence induced by S19 is directly correlated with the number of colony-forming units (CFU) per dose. There are two vaccination me...

Brucella species infecting marine mammals was first reported in 1994 and in the years since has been documented in various species of pinnipeds and cetaceans. While these reports have included species that inhabit Arctic waters, the few available studies on bearded seals Erignathus barbatus have failed to detect Brucella infection to date. We repor...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognised as one of the greatest public health concerns of our time. The development of AMR occurs in nature as a defence by microbes against naturally occurring antimicrobials. However, the selective pressure, generated by the use of antimicrobial agents in human and veterinary medicine, livestock and plant produ...

Background: Dairy production in Bosnia and Herzegovina exhibits limited productivity, which may partly, be explained by extensive reproductive problems of non-infectious and infectious origin. Brucella spp., Chlamydia abortus, Coxiella burnetii and Neospora caninum are common infectious causes of decreased reproductive outcomes in cattle worldwide...

Brucella pinnipedialis was first isolated from true seals in 1994 and from eared seals in 2008. Although few pathological findings have been associated with infection in true seals, reproductive pathology including abortions, and the isolation of the zoonotic strain type 27 have been documented in eared seals. In this study, a Brucella enzyme-linke...

This study shows the absence of the world’s most common bacterial zoonoses caused by Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis in cattle, goats and dogs in an agro-pastoral community in South Africa, where heifer vaccination against brucellosis with the live Strain 19 vaccine is compulsory. The study site is bordering wildlife reserves with multiple...

Human brucellosis remains the commonest zoonotic disease worldwide with more than 500 000 new cases annually. Understanding the biology of Brucella infections and the transmission patterns at the wildlife/livestock/human interface is of paramount importance before implementing any brucellosis control or eradication program in animals, even more so...

Brucella ceti and Brucella pinnipedialis have been documented as occurring in marine mammals, and B. ceti has been identified in 3 naturally acquired human cases. Seroconversion and infection patterns in Pacific Northwest harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) and North Atlantic hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) indicate post-weaning exposure thr...

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease of high veterinary importance, besides being a significant zoonosis worldwide. It is characterised by variable, and at times long and latent, incubation periods, which makes its control and eradication a challenging effort. No single test is able to identify all stages of the disease with high sensitivity. The bru...

Reproductive disorders have negative impact on performance in cattle worldwide. Studies on infections causing reproductive disorders in Tanzania are few and fragmented, which complicates targeted disease prevention. To investigate the prevalence of selected infections and their associations with reproductive disorders and risk factors in cattle und...

Objectives The aim of this study was to characterize by classical biotyping and Multi-Locus variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) Analysis (MLVA) all Brucella spp. derived from human cases in Belgium from 1996 to 2015. Final goals were to determine the species and biovar, to trace-back on genetic grounds the origin of each strain when patient histo...