Seroprevalence of human Brucellosis and associated risk factors among high risk occupations in Mbeya Region of Tanzania

Abstract

14Background 15 Brucellosis is an infectious zoonotic disease that affects humans, livestock and wildlife. 16 Methods 17 A cross-sectional study was conducted in Mbeya region between November 2015 and January 18 2016 to investigate the seroprevalence of human brucellosis and identify associated risk factors 19 among individuals in risky occupations in Mbeya Region. A total of 425 humans from six 20 occupational categories were serially tested for Brucella antibodies using the Rose Bengal Plate 2 21Test (RBPT) and competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (c-ELISA), for screening 22 and confirmation, respectively. A questionnaire survey was administered to participants collect 23 epidemiological data. 24 Results 25The overall seroprevalence among the high risk occupational individuals was 1.41% (95% CI: 26 0.01-0.03). Seroprevalence among the different occupations were as follows: shepherds 1.33% 27 (95% CI: 0.14-0.22); butcher men 5.26% (95% CI: 0.10-0.17) and abattoir workers 1.08% 28 (95% CI: 0.39-0.49). Seroprevalence was noted to vary according to occupation type, milk 29 consumption behaviour, age and sex. Butcher men recorded the highest seroprevalence (5.0%) 30 while individuals who consumed unboiled milk had a higher seroprevalence (1.56%) compared 31 to those who drunk boiled milk. High seropositivity (2.25%) was observed among the age 32 group of 1-10 years while male individuals had a higher seroprevalence (1.41%) than females 33 (0%). Butcher men were at higher risk of exposure compared to other professions. 34 Conclusion 35Our findings show the presence of brucellosis in occupationally exposed individuals in Mbeya 36 region. There is need to sensitize the exposed individuals in order to reduce the risk of acquiring 37 Brucella infections from animals and animal products This also calls for public health 38 awareness about the disease, and implementation of control measures that will prevent further 39 spread of brucellosis within and outside the study area.. 40 41

Lay attitudes and misconceptions and their implications for the control of brucellosis in an agro-pastoral community in Kilombero district, Tanzania

“…Consequently, this increases their exposure to brucellosis. This links in with prevalence studies conducted in Tanzania and Kenya, where men were reported to have a higher seroprevalence for brucellosis than women [52,53]. The differential role that age and gender play in transmission and infection with zoonotic disease is well established and is attributed to the different roles in livestock keeping [19,36,54,55].…”