Brucellosis prevalence in yaks in China in 1980-2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis

In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China, the yak is an animal of particular economic interest, which provides protein and income for herders in daily life. Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can infect humans and animals, including yaks. It can damage the yak reproductive system, causing miscarriage and orchitis. At the same time, brucellosis threatens the health of herders. We performed this meta-analysis using R software to explore the combined prevalence and risk factors of brucellosis in yak in China. Variability was assessed by the I² statistic and Cochran Q statistic. We identified 52 publications of related research from four databases (Wanfang Data, VIP Chinese Journal Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and of PubMed). The pooled prevalence of yak brucellosis was 8.39 %. Prevalence was highest in Southwestern China (11.1 %). The point estimate of brucellosis in yak from 2012 to 2016 was the highest (11.47 %). The point estimate of age ≤ 12 months (1.44 %) was lower than that of age > 12 months (15.6 %). This study shows that yak brucellosis is serious, and its incidence is higher than before 2012. We recommend carrying out large-scale yak brucellosis investigations in Western China and conducting comprehensive testing planning. The detection of brucellosis in adult animals should be strengthened to reduce the economic loss caused by brucellosis to herders and to improve public health.