Brucellosis in a Saudi Community

ABSTRACT

To assess the magnitude of the problem of brucellosis in the North region of Saudi Arabia and to study the important risk factors associated with exposure to infection. Method: 1092 Saudi subjects of all age groups were recruited through a systemic random sample of 182 households. A questionnaire was filled out and physical examination was done. Blood samples were taken and screened for brucella antibodies by microplate agglutination test. All positive sera were confirmed by tube agglutination test. Active disease was diagnosed with a titer of 1160 with the presence of clinical manifestations compatible with brucellosis. Prevalence of infection was found to be 20.4%, while active brucellosis was found to be 1.9% of the study population. Prevalence of infection is higher in rural than urban areas, among males, in old age groups and in low socioeconomic classes. Various risk factors that predispose to infection in this community were discussed. Fever-end rheumatologic symptoms were the commonest clinical manifestations of active brucellosis. In conclusion, the prevalence of brucella infection in North region of Saudi Arabia is unacceptably higher than the national level. There is an urgent need to strengthen the ongoing control measures: