The relationship between some risk factors and seroconversion to brucellosis in Gachsaran, Iran

Brucellosis, or Malta fever, is one of the common diseases in humans and livestock that causes many health problems and economic losses. Therefore, this study investigated the frequency of seroconversion of persons with brucellosis symptoms in Gachsaran, Iran from 2016 to 2017. In this study, 1379 people (age range of 10- 70 years) with clinical symptoms of brucellosis were monitored by standard agglutination test (SAT, Wright's Agglutination Test) who referred to the pathobiology laboratory from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2017. In this monitoring, the individuals with a titer greater than or equal to 1: 320 (based SAT) and greater than or equal to 1: 160 (based 2ME) were selected. Using questionnaires, data on gender, contact with livestock, and dairy consumption behavior were collected. The study variables were analyzed using a chi-square test (p≤0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence of brucellosis between men and women (p = 0.16), but direct contact with livestock (p = 0.001), history of unpasteurized dairy consumption (p = 0.001), occupation (p = 0.001) and location (p = 0.001) had a significant effect on infectivity to brucellosis. Based on the results of this study, apart from gender, other factors are the most important causes of seroconversion of persons to brucellosis.