Seroprevalence of human brucellosis in Erbil city

Background and objectives: Brucellosis is an acute or chronic illness manifested principally by chills and fever. Occasionally, chronic relapsing febrile episodes occur. Brucellosis is endemic in animal and humans are infected incidentally. The aim of the study was to examine the incidence of brucellosis in Erbil City, study the relation between the rate of infection and a number of predisposing factors. Methods: Blood samples were collected from (2085) patients suspected of having brucellosis attending, Erbil Teaching Hospitals and Rizgary. The sera were examined using Rose Bengal test. Results: Serum samples from patients showed (10.7%) of positive reaction indicating the presence of anti-brucella antibodies. Seropositivity of brucellosis in female (12.48%) was significantly higher than male (8.02%), and in rural area was (40.98%) and in urban area was (9.44%). The highest seropositivity of brucellosis occurred among age group (21-30) years. The infection rate with B. miletensis and Brucella abortus was (71.75%) and (28.25%) respectively. The highest seropositivity occurred among individuals who were in contact with animals (37.34%), and in occupations was the highest among the farmers and dairy workers (37.5% and 37.28%) respectively. In Monthly distribution showed the highest sero-positivity occurred in October (12.72%). Conclusion: Sero-posivity of brucellosis in Erbil City is somehow similar to the neighboring countries. There are variations in the incidence of brucellosis in relation to sex, age, area, occupation, source of infection and seasons.