Brucellosis in Dairy Cattle

It is estimated that throughout the world, almost 150 million farm households are engaged in milk production, the majority of them in developing countries where annual growth rates in milk consumption averaged 3.5 to 4.0 per cent in the decade of 1995-2005. Bangladesh has 24 million cattle, out of which 6 million are dairy cattle of local and crossbreds. Dairying is part of the mixed farming systems and a predominant source of income, nutrition and jobs and a strong tool to develop a village micro economy of Bangladesh in order to improve rural livelihoods and to alleviate rural poverty. More regular cash income can be generated through market-oriented dairies and more employment per value added unit has been observed in dairying than in crops. One of the infectious diseases, which are a major constraint for dairy animal productivity, is brucellosis. Brucellosis in dairy cattle is caused by Brucella abortus.This book illustrates the conventional diagnosis and seroprevalence of of brucellosis in dairy cattle. The exciting new study shows a new way of developing the dairy industry and control of brucellosis to improve livelihoods.