Human brucellosis in Khartoum state: a commonly underdiagnosed disease

ABSTRACT

Human brucellosis is a major debilitating zoonotic disease. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella The serum antibody titres to Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus of one thousand febrile patients, randomly selected from Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman Teaching Hospitals, were estimated by the STAT. Eighty nine [8.9%] of the febrile patients had brucellosis. The average age of brucellosis patient was 43.9 years. Sixty three [70.8%] of the brucellosis patients were males, and 26 [29.2%] were females. Fifty four [60.7%] of them had significant titres to Brucella melitensis while 23 [25.8%] patients had significant titres to Brucella abortus. Twelve [13.5%] patients had significant titres to both Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus. The average diagnostic delay of brucellosis in this study was 88.6 days. Brucellosis was found to be misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid fever. Animal contact was found to be a significant risk factor