Abortion in sheep near Kano, Nigeria.

A sporadic natural infection of sheep with Brucella abortus in a sheep breeding centre in Kano State, Nigeria, is reported. Sera and milk samples from the flock of Sudanese long- and fat-tailed sheep used for cross-breeding purposes were examined for brucellosis by the Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT), serum agglutination test (SAT) and Milk Ring test (MRT) respectively. The overall positive reactor rate to SAT was 14.5%. All 22 ewe milk samples examined by MRT were positve and Brucella abortus was cultured from 5 of the 22 ewes sampled. This is believed to be the first report of bacteriological isolation of Brucella in sheep in Kano, Nigeria.