No abstract

B RUCELLOSIS is a chronic bacterial infection that can infect a variety of animal species and humans. The disease has been studied in many parts of the world including Pakistan, however, caprine brucellosis has not been well reported and very few studies are published at the national level. This study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence of brucellosis in goat and household animal keepers of district Swat Pakistan. A total of 235 blood samples were collected from goats and 53 blood samples from animal keepers following the standard protocols. All the serum samples were analyzed by the Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Serum Plate Agglutination Test (SPAT) for the detection of anti-brucella antibodies. All the goat serum samples were also subjected to Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for the comparison of two commonly used serological tests. The overall seroprevalence of brucellosis in the goat population of district Swat was recorded as 13.61% and 16.17% while in the human population it was recorded as 3.77% and 5.66% by RBPT and SPAT respectively. A significant correlation was found between abortion and seropositivity of brucellosis in goats with a p˂0.05. By comparing RBPT and SPAT considering ELISA as a gold standard, the SPAT test showed a greater sensitivity than RBPT recorded as 82% and 80 % by SPAT and RBPT respectively. It is concluded that brucellosis is prevailing in both the goat as well as in animal keepers of district Swat. Screening of animals and awareness of the general population through mass media is recommended.

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis has plagued humans since the beginning of history, but was on the decline after introduction of the Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination programs. Tuberculosis appears to be an emerging problem worldwide due to environmental changes, mass migration and rise of drug-resistance phenomenon. This study targets to find out the distribution of TB patients in the sub-urban population around Comilla city in Bangladesh. A total of 455 patients with pulmonary symptoms were included in the study over a period of six months (from January 2016 to June 2016). Samples were smeared and stained with acid-fast technique and cultured in Lowenstein Jensen medium. A total of 2.4% of the patients were diagnosed with active pulmonary TB, 1.53% of whom are males and 0.87% are females. On the other hand, the Mantoux Tuberculin test showed 5.3% of these patients to be positive for TB, 3.3% of whom are males and 2% are females. 23% of the samples were sputum, 59% were pus, 14% were cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and 4% were tracheal aspirates. On the whole, the suburban population around Comilla city in Bangladesh has a moderate incidence of pulmonary TB with military TB being rarely present. A thorough multi-year surveillance is needed to control the situation. Stamford Journal of Microbiology, Vol.9(1) 2019: 36-38