Epidemiological Aspects of Human Brucellosis and Leptospirosis Outbreaks in Korea

Abstract

In order to compare the epidemiological aspects of human brucellosis (HB) and human leptospirosis (HL) outbreaks in Korea, we have analyzed the current state both of the disease incidence and related risk factors. A total 651 cases of HB occurred between 2001 and 2010 in Korea, and the average incidence rate per 100,000 populations was 0.15. A total 1,153 of HL cases occurred during the same period, and its rate was 0.24. While most of the HB prevalence occurred in the whole year round, prevalence in summer was more prominent for HB (p < 0.01), while outbreaks in autumn was more frequent for HL (p < 0.01). Geographical distribution HB cases were eastern and western regions of the rural (88.6% of total) in the Korean peninsula, showing higher outbreaks than other areas, while HL occurred in easterly regions (64.5%). Significantly more males were infected in both HB (86.8%) and HL (59.5%) than those of females in both HB (13.1%) and HL (41.1%), respectively (p < 0.01). The distribution by age groups were different between HB and HL, while the outbreaks over 62.1% of the cases of HB occurred in 40- to 59-year-old age group, and that of HL was clearly showing a high incidence in the elderly age over 60-year-old (59.6%) (p < 0.01). In both diseases, elderly people especially in famers showed a very high incidence rate (57.9% of HB and 52.2% of HL), which is possible due to increased outdoor activities and a decreased number of young people in those areas. The occupational distribution of HB cases was famers, veterinarians, dairyman and others, and those of HL cases were broad. In conclusion, the difference between HB and HL risk factors reflects the different influence of host/vector, climate, and geographical and environmental characteristics in the epidemiological patterns.KeywordsHuman brucellosis and leptospirosis; Epidemic aspects; Risk factors

Booster vaccination with safe, modified, live-attenuated mutants of Brucella abortus strain RB51 vaccine confers protective immunity against virulent strains of B. abortus and Brucella canis in BALB/c mice

“…B. abortus infection in elk, dog and Chinese water deer or B. canis infection in cattle (Baek et al, 2003(Baek et al, , 2012Her et al, 2010;Kang et al, 2011;Truong et al, 2011) have been reported. Of note, from 2002 to 2010, 651 human brucellosis cases were also reported to be associated with the livestock industry in Korea (Jang et al, 2011;Park et al, 2005).…”

A Retrospective Study of the Extensive Eradication Program for Brucellosis Outbreaks and Control in Korea, 2002^|^ndash;2009

“…Additionally, the AR was higher in summer than in other seasons (P º 0.05). This data strongly suggest that the incidence of brucellosis is influenced by climate, farm environmental conditions, epidemic patterns, and the characteristic traits of the disease strain (2,3,6,15). On the other hand, the BB and HB cases were geographically localized in the southeastern region of the Korean peninsula (42.5z of the total BB cases and 44.4z of the total HB cases) as compared to other areas ( P º 0.01).…”

“…including Brucella melitensis, Brucella abortus, Brucella suis, and Brucella canis; moreover, marine mammal strains are known to be pathogenic agents in humans (1,2). In recent years, brucellosis has become a major zoonosis in Korea with a dramatic increase in incidence in domestic cattle and man (2)(3)(4)(6)(7)(8). Therefore, human brucellosis (HB) was classified as a type 3 notifiable disease by the Communicable Disease Prevention Act in August 2000 (6).…”

“…Therefore, human brucellosis (HB) was classified as a type 3 notifiable disease by the Communicable Disease Prevention Act in August 2000 (6). In Korea, bovine brucellosis (BB) and B. abortus were first detected among dairy cattle imported from the United States in 1955 (2-4); HB was first reported in an official report case in 2002 (2,3,(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). BB occurred sporadically until 1983, and till 1999, most of the outbreaks have been reported in dairy cattle (2,4).…”

“…Accordingly, the screening tests for brucellosis have been reinforced; moreover, the number of HB cases has sharply increased after the first report in 2002 from 16 cases in 2003 to 215 cases in 2006, when it was at its peak. A total of 620 cases were reported between 2002 and 2009 (2)(3)(4)10,11).…”