Prevalence of yersinia enterocolitica and yersinia pseudotuberculosis in pigs in Zuru local government area, Kebbi state

Abstract

The study was carriedout to establish the prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersiniapseudotuberculosis in pigs in Zuru Local Government of Kebbi State. Feacalsamples were collected from the randomly selected pigs and analysed usingstandard bacteriologic method of Yersinia isolation and identification. A totalof 377 samples were collected, out of which 76(20.2%) samples were positive forYersinia species. Yersinia enterocolitica was found in all the positive sampleswhile only 7(9.2%) were positive for Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Thedistribution of isolates among various age groups shows higher percentage ofoccurrence of 59.2% in pigs above 24 months of age, while the low incidencerate (9.2%) was recorded in pigs of 1 to 12 months of age. There wasstatistical association between the rate of isolation and the age, as p valuesare less than 5%(p<0.05). This investigation has revealed the presence ofYersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis among pigs in the studyarea. Therefore, there is need to educate the pig rearing communities andpublic on the need for hygienic practices.