A Survey for Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia in Agago and Otuke Districts in Northern Uganda

Background: Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) is a devastating disease of goats caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. Capripneumoniae (Mccp). The disease was first confirmed in Uganda in 1995 in Karamoja region. Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia negatively impacts on goats’ productivity but its extent and magnitude among the local communities in Uganda remain unknown. A cross sectional study was conducted in the districts of Agago and Otuke neighboring Karamoja in Northern Uganda during the months of July and August 2011 to explore for the status of the disease. Methods: Five hundred and four serum samples from goats were obtained from randomly selected unvaccinated herds and 100 goats from vaccinated herds. Serum samples were examined for antibodies against Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. Capripneumoniae (Mccp) by ELISA method. A total of 162 semi-structured questionnaires were administered to selected farmers to obtain information on their understanding of the disease and the risk factors they associated with CCPP. Eight focus group discussions were also conducted with selected farmer groups to obtain detailed qualitative information on CCPP. Results: Among the unvaccinated goats, seroprevalence of CCPP was 32 (17.7%) and 52 (23.3%) for Agago and Otuke districts respectively. Levels of antibodies against Mccp were higher among vaccinated goats than unvaccinated ones (mean optical densities (ODs) of 0.905 and 0.776, p = 0.08). Majority of the farmers 121 (74.7%) had knowledge on CCPP and recognized that CCPP was among the major challenges to goat production in Uganda. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that CCPP was prevalent in Agago and Otuke districts, which are outside but close to Karamoja region where the disease was previously confirmed. There is a need for wider and detailed studies to investigate further CCPP in other districts of Uganda for effective preventive and control of CCPP in Uganda and the neighboring countries.