Prevalence of Human Brucellosis in a Suspected Population of District Swat

Abstract

Background: Brucellosis is caused by a gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore forming, coccobacillus, transmitted by consumption of
contaminated dairy products. Close contact with infected animals is also a risk factor. Diagnosis is difficult due to non-specific
manifestations like fever, back pain, arthralgia, muscle aches, and anemia, thereby diagnosis is based on laboratory tests.
Although under rated, 50,000 new cases of human brucellosis worldwide are reported annually. In Pakistan, despite the disease
being endemic, data is limited. Moreover, the increased consumption of raw dairy products has posed an additional risk.
Objective: To identify the prevalence of human brucellosis in the suspected population of District Swat.
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary-care hospital, of Swat from November 2017-
October 2018. From the outpatient department, 150 participants were enrolled being suspected of having human brucellosis.
Every participant was screened for Brucella antibodies by Serum Plate Agglutination Test (SPAT) and confirmed through Enzyme-
Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
Results: The mean age of the participants was 29.65+11.27 years, 34% of which were 21-30 years of age. Most (62%, n=93) were
females and a greater proportion of them consume fresh milk (45.3%), followed by fresh milk and milk pack both (30%). Around 119
(79.3%) were positive on SPAT, 50.7% on ELISA, and 49.3% on PCR with a significantly higher proportion in females (p=0.001).
Conclusion: Human brucellosis was found to be highly prevalent among suspected population exposed to raw dairy products with
a definitive diagnosis found in almost half of the samples collected.