الفهرس 
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Abstract
This study was conducted to carry out to investigate the seroprevalence of ovine brucellosis in some sheep herds and shepherds of these herds in Kuwait and to identify and further molecularly typing the recovered isolates for obtaining clear picture about present status of the brucellosis in such small ruminants. Moreover, evaluation of vaccination programme for control of ovine brucellosis. During national program for epidemiological surveys on ovine brucellosis in Kuwait state, a total of 67084 sheep blood samples (8876 from Al-Salmi area; 8290 from Kabd and 12515 from Al-Abdali area) from 2017 to 2019. In addition, 26225 (before vaccination program) from Al-Wafrah and 6715 (before vaccination program) from Al-Jahra areas in 2016 and 2017, furthermore, 2180 from Al-Wafrah area and 2253 from Al-Jahra after vaccination program were taken from apparently healthy sheep in state of Kuwait to determine the seroprevalence of ovine brucellosis in Kuwait by Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Buffered Acidified Plate Antigen Test (BAPAT) as screening tests, then the positive samples were confirmed by Complement Fixation test (CFT). The overall prevalence of sheep brucellosis during three years (2017, 2018 and 2019) in three examined district areas in Kuwait state was 6.8% (5.7% in Al-Salmi, 4.7% in Kabd and 8.9% in Al-Abdali areas). Overall seroprevalence of sheep brucellosis during 2017 surveys was 8.6% (6.2%, 7.4% and 11% in Al-Salmi, Kabd and Al-Abdali areas, respectively). Moreover, overall seroprevalence during 2018 surveys was 5.8%, (5.3%, 3.4% and 7.9% in Al-Salmi, Kabd and Al-Abdali areas, respectively). Furthermore, overall seroprevalence during 2019 surveys was 5.9% (6.3%, 7 % and 7.6% in Al-Salmi, Kabd and Al-Abdali areas, respectively). The seroprevalence was determined in Al-Jahra and Al-Wafrah areas before and after vaccination to asses the efficacy of vaccination program, the overall seroprevalence of sheep brucellosis during two years (2016 and 2017) in two examined district areas before vaccination was 7.4% (6.5% in Al-Jahra and 10.8% in Al-Wafrah areas). The overall seroprevalence of during 2016 surveys was 6.1% (12.2% and 4.99% in Al-Jahra and Al-Wafrah areas). Moreover, overall seroprevalence during 2017 surveys was 10.5% (9.18% and 11% in Al-Jahra and Al-Wafrah areas). Furthermore, overall prevalence during 2018 surveys after vaccination was 6.8% (4.34% and 5.14% in Al-Jahra and Al-Wafrah areas). It could be noticed that the prevalence rates in two tested areas after vaccination are lower than before vaccination. The seroprevalence of human brucellosis among shepherds was 56.6% (17 out of 30) and varied from 33.3% to 100%. Bacteriological examinations revealed that 20 (43.5%) bacteriological and biochemically identified isolates were recovered from 46 samples collected from seroreactors ewes. It showed that all 8 (100%) of aborted specimen, 10 (33.3%) out of 30 milk samples and 2 (25%) out of 8 tissues of ewes yielded Brucella isolates. All isolates were typed as Brucella melitensis biovar 3. In conclusion, brucellosis is prevalent (6.8%) among examined sheep herds in Kuwait. A combination of screening serological tests such as BAPAT and RBPT, followed by CFT as a confirmatory test of high specificity can be used for diagnosis of brucellosis in small ruminants. Vaccination programme played a significant role in eradication and control of disease. Shepherds are at major risk factors through both animal exposure and raw milk ingestion, so, must be healthy educated about brucellosis All examined aborted specimen from ewes were successfully cultured and yielded Brucella isolates. AMOS-PCR confirmed the identity of Brucella at the species level. All tested DNA from the twenty isolates showed a distinct band of size 731bp characteristic for B. melitensis.