A cross-sectional study of sero-prevalence and risk factors of brucellosis and haemorrhagic fever in slaughterhouse staff in Ahvaz City, Iran; 2020

Abstract

Introduction: Malta fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever comprise a major public health problem in developing countries and is endemic in Iran. Aim of the research:To study sero-prevalence and risk factors of brucellosis and haemorrhagic fever in Slaughterhouse Staff in Ahvaz City, Iran; 2020. Material and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 104 slaughterhouse staff in Ahvaz. First, a questionnaire containing demographic information and other required information was filled in at the workplace; after that, 10 ml of blood was taken from each person. To diagnose anti-Brucella IgG antibodies, ELISA and IBL kits were used, and CISF was used to diagnose ELISA and specific IgG detection. Finally, the data were entered into SPSS software version 23, and the significance level of the tests was considered to be less than 0.05. Results: In this study, 14 subjects were not available and all were male. The sero-prevalence of Brucellosis and CCHF was 17% (17 people) and 7% (7 people), respectively. There was no significant difference between age factors, marital status, duration of employment, training, use of protective equipment, and type of job with prevalence rate of brucellosis and CCHF. Conclusions: It seems that in order to reduce the incidence of these diseases in slaughterhouse staff, we need to review the training programs as well as the type and manner of use of personal protective equipment because there is a significant difference in the prevalence of this disease among trained people and people using personal protective equipment compared to untrained people and people not using personal protective equipment. StreszczenieWprowadzenie: Gorączka maltańska oraz krymsko-kongijska gorączka krwotoczna (CCHF) stanowią znaczący problem dla zdrowia publicznego w krajach rozwijających się. W Iranie choroby te mają charakter endemiczny. Cel pracy: Analiza seroprewalencji i czynników ryzyka wystąpienia brucelozy i gorączki krwotocznej u pracowników ubojni w irańskim mieście Ahwaz w 2020 r. Materiał i metody: Opisowe badanie przekrojowe przeprowadzono w grupie 104 pracowników ubojni w mieście Ahwaz. W pierwszej kolejności pracownicy wypełniali w miejscu pracy kwestionariusz w celu zebrania danych demograficznych i innych niezbędnych informacji. Następnie od każdej osoby pobrano 10 ml krwi. Przeciwciała anty-Brucella IgG oznaczano za pomocą zestawów ELISA i IBL, a w diagnostyce ELISA i swoistej detekcji przeciwciał IgG wykorzystano CISF. Dane wprowadzono do oprogramowania SPSS w wersji 23. Poziom istotności statystycznej dla wyników ustalono jako p < 0,05. Wyniki: Grupa badana obejmowała wyłącznie mężczyzn. Dane dotyczące 14 osób nie były dostępne. Seroprewalencja brucelozy i CCHF wyniosła odpowiednio 17% (17 osób) i 7% (7 osób). Nie stwierdzono istotnej zależności pomiędzy wiekiem, stanem cywilnym, stażem pracy, poziomem przeszkolenia, stosowaniem środków ochrony i rodzajem wykonywanej pracy a częstością występowania brucelozy i CCHF.

Seroprevalence of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in Occupational Settings: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The 33 studies included in the analyses, all of them published from 2007 to 2022, are summarized in Table 1 [ 13 , 14 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. Among them, 17 (51.51%) were published after 2014, when the WHO first identified CCHF as a global health threat [ 20 ].…”

“…The eventual sample included: 17 estimates based on abattoir workers for 3657 total samples (range 6 to 1995) [ 13 , 14 , 23 , 25 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 52 , 55 , 59 ], 14 estimates based on farmers for 4558 samples (range 12 to 1034) [ 24 , 25 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 49 , 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 57 , 58 , 62 ], 12 estimates based on animal handlers for 3505 samples (range 32 to 768) [ 40 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 57 , 60 ], 8 estimates based on veterinarians (354 samples, range 1 to 117) [ 25 , 45 , 47 , 50 , 51 , 52 …”

“…Again, individual estimates ranged between 0.00% [ 24 , 45 , 51 ], 0.10% [ 55 ], and well over 10% [ 40 , 53 ], peaking at 18.12% in the study of Atim et al [ 44 ]. When dealing with abattoir workers, crude prevalence was estimated at 2.24%, with individual estimates that ranged from three negative reports [ 14 , 25 , 41 ] to 10.94% in the study by Salmanzadeh et al [ 52 ], 14.81% in the report by Chinikar et al [ 59 ], and 16.49% from the study of Mostafavi et al [ 23 ]. Lower prevalence rates were calculated for HCWs (0.57%), and particularly among veterinarians (0.28%), as only 1 positive case was reported across the 7 studies and in the 354 sampled professionals.…”

“…Additionally, reporting bias (D5: the elective inclusion of outcomes in the publication of the study on the basis of the results) was unlikely in the included studies. In fact, the main issues were associated with the identification and handling of confounding factors (D4), as potential sources of tick bites and non-occupational exposures to CCHFV were not properly investigated in 4 out of 33 studies (12.12%) [ 22 , 23 , 46 , 52 ]. Moreover (D6: other bias), a substantial share of studies (8 out of 25 studies, 32.00%) were likely affected by some uncertainties in the assessment of the individual habits, attitudes, and knowledge of participants [ 24 , 38 , 42 ], as well as in the detailed description of data handling and statistical analysis [ 22 , 23 ], or reporting in the randomization strategy [ 39 , 47 , 52 ].…”

Distribution pattern of Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Asia and the Middle East

“…In a study, 203 ticks were checked for the presence of CCHFV and this was absent in the Kerman province although it was an endemic region ( 67 ). In 2011, seven butchers from 104 slaughterhouses were detected to be seropositive for CCHF ( 68 ).…”