Investigation of seroprevalance of brucellosis among high risk groups in Elaziğ region

Brucellosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases worldwide and continues to be a public health problem in many countries. The major transmission route of infection in endemic areas, including Turkey, is consumption of unpasteurized milk or dairy products and due to the transmission of disease from animals to humans by direct/indirect contact, it is also an occupational risk for related individuals.This study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence of brucellosis among risk occupation groups in Elazığ Region.Blood samples obtained from a total of 370 individuals, who are particularly at risk of Brucella infection and 50 individuals as control, who are not. All sera were evaluated both by the Rose-Bengal Plate Test and Standard Tube Agglutination Test.Seropositivity of brucellosis in the risk groups was 14.6% (54/370) and 6% (3/50) in control group and the difference between risk and control groups was not found to be statistically significant (p > 0.05).Seropositivity of brucellosis was as follows: 32% in animal husbandry workers (23/72), 15.1% in dairy farmers (8/53), 5% in butchers (2/40), 6.1% in abottoir workers (3/49), 15.4% in veterinarians (12/78) and 7.7% in laboratory personel (6/78). The seropositivity obtained from animal husbandry workers was found to be statistically significant compared to the control group (p = 0.001).Consequently, high rate of brucellosis seropositivity in risk groups indicates the need for education and occupational preventions.