Abstract

BackgroundBrucellosis is one of the most widespread zoonosis in the world. In China, 90% of human brucellosis occurs in six northern agricultural provinces. However, there is a recent increase in the trend of human brucellosis in southern provinces with limited cases reported in the literature. Our study aims to describe the clinical features and epidemiology of brucellosis in a tertiary hospital in southern China.MethodsA retrospective case series of brucellosis was conducted between January 1, 2014 and October 31. 2018. Cases were identified based on positive Brucella serology by tube agglutination test, or positive culture from clinical specimen identified by Vitek 2 and MALDL-TOF MS. Clinical details of brucellosis including patients’ occupation, risk factors, and complications were analyzed. Clinical characteristics between patients from Guangdong and other provinces were also compared.ResultsA total of 13 cases of laboratory-confirmed brucellosis were identified. 7 (53.8%) of the patients were male, 6 (46.2%) were female, with age ranging from 29 to 73 years old (median age: 51 years). 5 patients (38.5%) were from Guangdong province, while the remaining patients (61.5%) were from other provinces. The commonest risk factors of acquisition were consumption of undercooked meat and goat placenta. Patients from Guangdong province were found to be more likely to have prior placenta consumption. The commonest clinical presentations were fever, osteoarticular pain, urinary symptoms, splenomegaly, and lymphadenopathy. Spondylodiscitis/ peripheral joint arthritis (5 patients, 38.5%) was the most prevalent complication, while extra-osteoarticular complications including abdominal aortitis, hepatosplenic abscess, chest wall abscess, and epididymo-orchitis were observed in 4 other patients. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that MALDI-TOF MS is reliable in Brucella identification after additional of reference spectra with standard Brucella strain.ConclusionsBrucellosis, previously thought to be only found in northern China, is now increasingly seen in highly cosmopolitan part of southern China. MALDI-TOF MS in hospitals in China should include reference spectra with standard Brucella strain to aid bacterial identification in routine clinical practice. In addition to tuberculosis, typhoid fever and typhus, brucellosis should be considered in patients with fever of unknown origin in this locality.

Highlights

  • Brucellosis is one of the most widespread zoonosis in the world

  • Brucellosis is a disease entity caused by a Gram negative coccobacilli of the genus Brucella, with Brucella melitensis being the commonest implicated agent

  • It is observed that there is a change in the epidemiology of brucellosis in China

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Summary

Introduction

In China, 90% of human brucellosis occurs in six northern agricultural provinces. There is a recent increase in the trend of human brucellosis in southern provinces with limited cases reported in the literature. In China, 90% of brucellosis occurs in six northern agricultural provinces including Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Jilin, and Shaanxi. Retrospective studies in northern China were commonly reported [5, 6], yet similar studies were limited in southern China [7, 8] This retrospective study aims to include a case series of brucellosis in Shenzhen, a Southern Chinese cosmopolitan city with over 20 million population including a large immigrant population from other parts of China, and to describe the clinical features and epidemiology of this disease in Shenzhen

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