Abstract
Aim:Brucellosis is a disease of zoonotic importance as it affects both human as well as animal’s health, and therefore, directly affects animal productivity and human efficiency. Therefore, a study was conducted to estimate the seroprevalence of brucellosis in humans in Jammu and surrounding areas.Materials and Methods:A total of 121 sera samples from humans occupied with professional related to animals were collected and tested for anti-Brucella antibodies by Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT), modified RBPT (mRBPT), standard tube agglutination test (STAT), and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (I-ELISA). Sampling was done keeping in view with the occupation, sex, and age.Results:The overall seroprevalence of brucellosis recorded was 4.96%. The test-wise seroprevalence was 9.91% by RBPT, 9.91% by mRBPT, 9.09% by STAT, and 16.52% by I-ELISA. The prevalence of brucellosis was higher in >35-50 years age group compared to >20-35 years and >50-65 years. Sex-wise seroprevalence was higher in males than females. Taking I-ELISA as standard, the relative sensitivities of mRBPT, RBPT, and I-ELISA were in the order of mRBPT=RBPT>STAT. All the tests revealed high specificity values; however, among different serological tests, I-ELISA detected a maximum number of positive sera samples.Conclusions:The prevalence of brucellosis was found to be approximately 5%. The adult (>35-50 years) age male group was most vulnerable. The routine diagnosis of brucellosis involved the conventional serological tests, viz., RBPT and STAT, but each was associated with drawbacks which could give either false-positive or false-negative interpretation. Therefore, it is always recommended to use a battery of tests in the diagnosis of brucellosis.
Highlights
Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease, and its persistence risk factors of existence are numerous and complex
The routine diagnosis of brucellosis involved the conventional serological tests, viz., Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and standard tube agglutination test (STAT), but each was associated with drawbacks which could give either false-positive or false-negative interpretation
The routine diagnosis of brucellosis involves the conventional serological tests, viz., Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and standard tube agglutination test (STAT), but each is associated with certain drawbacks
Summary
Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease, and its persistence risk factors of existence are numerous and complex. Human brucellosis has serious public health consequences, caused by Brucella melitensis [1]. The disease is contracted mostly to those who live in proximity with animals. Human brucellosis is an infection with nonspecific symptoms initially, and often not detected in earlier phases [2]. Asymptomatic brucellosis infections mainly result from less frequent contact with Brucella and/or contact with low-virulence Brucella. Human brucellosis generally went unnoticed, undiagnosed by medical professionals owing
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