ANNAPURNA S. AGASTHYA SHRIKRISHNA ISLOOR AND K. PRABHUDAS
Abstract
Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by different species of Brucella. The present work was done at Project Directorate on Animal Disease. Monitoring and Surveillance, Bangalore from 2004-2007 to study the sero-prevalence of human brucellosis by using the conventional Rose Bengal Plate agglutination Test (RBPT), Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT) and an indigenously standardised Indirect Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).The study group comprised of 2770 samples which included 618 individuals with a history of animal contact (Group 1), 1500 cases of Pyrexia of Unknown Origin (Group 2) and 652 individuals (Group 3) without a history of fever but with consistent joint pain, backache etc. The analysis of 2770 serum samples by RBPT and STAT revealed 4.98 % (138 positives) sero-prevalence and indirect ELISA revealed 11.58% (321 positives) sero-prevalence. All the sero-positive cases were distributed among 10 to 60 years age group individuals. The highest incidence (38%) was found among 41-50 years age group (122 out of 321) followed by 119 out of 321 cases (37.07%) in the age group of 31-40, followed by 46 (14.33%) in the age group of 21-30. Twenty two cases out of 321 (6.85%) were among the age group of 51- 60 years. Nine cases out of 321 (2.8%) were among the age group of 11-20 years. The least number of cases i.e. three out of 321 cases (0.93%) were recorded in the age group of <10 years. The indirect ELISA done by using the smooth lipopolysaccharide (S-LPS) antigen of Brucella abort xis 99 was found more sensitive than the RBPT and STAT.