Epidemiology of Brucellosis in Occupationally Exposed Human Beings

• Indian Journal of Animal Research, 44(3) 2010

• Kumar Arvind,  Kumar Ajith, Sadish S., Latha C., Kumar K., Kumar A.

• Division of Veterinary Public Health College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Pookot, - 673 576, India

• Abstract: A serological survey was undertaken to assess the extent of brucellosis in human beings of Lakhidi district in Kerala. A total of 365 serum samples were examined for the presence of Brucella agglutins. The sera were screened by Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT) and the samples, which showed a positive reaction, either by RBPT or STAT or both, were subjected to Heat Inactivation Test (HIT) and 2-Mercaptoethanol Test (MET).The human sera revealed 2.74% seroprevalence for brucellosis by RBPT and 1.74% by STAT. Only three out of ten showed an agglutination titre positive for brucellosis in HIT whereas one out of ten were positive in MET. Seroprevalence of brucellosis was recorded only among farmers (2.78%). Females recorded a relatively higher (3.45%) seroprevalence than males (2.33%). Human reactors positive for brucellosis were aged above 40 years. None of the sera collected from patients joint pain and veterinary or paraveterinary staff were positive for the disease. Of the serological tests, RBPT detected the highest number of samples as positive for brucellosis followed by STAT, HIT and MET. It was also observed that, of the RBPT and STAT positive cases, HIT recorded more positivity than MET.