ArchiveJCHR of SID Journal of Community Health Research 2018; 7(3): 183-191. Epidemiological Status of Brucellosis in Abadeh County, Fars Province, Iran in 2011-2017 Ahmad Karimi1* , Behnam Karimi2 1. Department of Preventing and Combating Diseases, Abadeh Health Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran 2. Deparment Rescue, Abadeh Red Crescent Society, Fars Red Crescent Society, Iran ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Original Article Introduction: Brucellosis is one of the most common zoonotic diseases in many parts of the world, which has made problems for the public health and the Received: 4 Jun 2018 livestock economics. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological Accepted: 18 Aug 2018 status of brucellosis disease in Abadeh county, Fars province, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the demographic and epidemiologic data of 985 patients with brucellosis who referred to the health centers and clinics of Abadeh county from 2011 to 2017 were evaluated. In order to analyze the data, the frequency distribution, statistical model was used through SPSS version 25. A significant level of 0.05 was considered. Results: The incidence of the disease in 2011-2017 was 128.78 per 100,000 Corresponding Author: populations. Most cases of the disease were reported in the spring and summer. Ahmad Karimi The highest number of people with the brucellosis consisted of housewives [email protected] (28.7%), ranchers (25.4%), and students and pupil (17.8%). In addition, 56 percent of the patients were the rural inhabitants. This study showed that 62.6 percent of the patients were in contact with the livestock and 50.2 percent of the cases had consumed non-pasteurized cheese, which have been the sources of infection transmission to humans. The mean age of the patients was 34.3 ± (19.35) years and the age group of 25-34 years had the highest number of patients (20.9),and the prevalence of the disease in men was one and a half times higher than this rate in women. Conclusion: Regarding the high prevalence of brucellosis disease in Abadeh city, training about the ways of disease transmission should be provided to various population groups, especially the individuals who are at risk. Keywords: Brucellosis, Epidemiology, Public Health, Incidence , Abadeh How to cite this paper: Karimi A, Karimi B. Epidemiological Status of Brucellosis in Abadeh County, Fars Province, Iran in 2011-2017. J Community Health Research. 2018; 7(3): 183-191. Copyright: ©2017 The Author(s); Published by Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. www.SID.ir ArchiveEpidemiological of SID Status of Brucellosis in Abadeh Introduction Brucellosis is one of the most common out to evaluate the prevalence of the disease, to zoonotic diseases in many parts of the world, identify the high-risk groups, and to investigate which has made problems for the public health the level of pollution in different areas of the city. and the livestock economics (1, 2). So far, six Methods species of Brucella have been identified, among This study used a cross-sectional design. which the roles of Brucella melitensis, Brucella Abadeh is a city and the capital of Abadeh abortus, and Brucella suis are more well-known in County, in Fars province, Iran which is connected human pathology (3, 4). This disease is to Isfahan province from the north and west, to characterized by names such as Mediterranean Safashahr city from the west, and to Yazd fever, Malta fever, Undulant fever, and Gibraltar province from the east. fever (5). Despite the improvements in food According to the census of 2016, the total health, brucellosis is still common in many parts population of this city was equal to 100, 831 of the world, especially in the developing people. In this cross-sectional study, the needed countries (6, 7). Human beings are infected by information of participants was extracted from the having direct contact with infected animals, care forms of the patients with brucellosis disease consuming non-pasteurized dairy products, in the department of prevention and combating breathing dust contaminated by microorganisms, diseases of the city health center. This research and contacting with animal delivery secretions (8, studied the data of patients with brucellosis disease 9). Symptoms include weakness, lethargy, registered during seven years from the beginning shivering, sweating, loss of appetite, headache, of 2011 to the end of 2017. The present study and psychological symptoms (3, 10). About 500,000 collected the demographic (age, gender, new cases of the disease are reported to the World occupation, and type of residence; in urban or rural Health Organization from around the world every areas) and epidemiologic data of the patients who year (11). This disease is prevalent in the referred to the health centers, health homes, health Mediterranean, the Middle East, North and East homes, and offices located in the county. Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, as well as According to the anti-brucellosis guidelines, South and West Asia (12). Brucellosis is present in Wright test of ≥ 1/80 and 2ME ≥ 1/40 were defined all regions of Iran, but higher incidence of as the criteria to diagnose the positive cases. The Brucellosis has been reported in the provinces of population statistics of the city were taken from Khorasan, East Azarbaijan, Hamedan, Lorestan, Iranian Statistics Center on the basis of a Fars, West Azarbaijan, Kermanshah, as well as population census. The prevalence rate was Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari (13). Brucellosis is one calculated annually by dividing the number of of the most important public health problems in cases by the total population of the city per endemic country, which has caused significant 100,000 people. Given the research objectives, economic losses in animal related industries data were entered into SPSS Software (Version 52) including reduced milk production, increased and analyzed through descriptive analysis, abortion, delayed conception, medical costs and considering p˂ 0.05 as the significance level. public health problems (cost of treatment and loss of productivity) (14-16). This disease is a work- Results related illness and is more often observed among The study population included all the patients shepherds, farmers, veterinarians, livestock with brucellosis who referred to the clinics and producers, and slaughterhouse workers (5). health centers located in the county for treatment, Considering the fact that no study has ever been and their information was recorded at the conducted on the epidemiological status of department of prevention and combating diseases brucellosis in Abadeh city, this study was carried of the city health center. The total number of 184 www.SID.ir ArchiveKarimi A of, et SID al. Journal of Community Health Research 2018; 7(3); 183-191. patients registered from 2011 to the end of 2017 According to these results, the mean prevalence was 985. The prevalence rate of the disease in this rate over the mentioned years was 128.78 percent period, based on the population of Abadeh county in 100,000 populations. per 100,000 people, is shown in Table 1. Table 1. Incidence rate of brucellosis in Abadeh county from 2011 to 2017 Years Frequency (%) Population Prevalence/100,000 2011 121 (12.3) 108188 111.84 2012 137 (13.9) 109000 125.68 2013 192 (19.5) 109700 175.02 2014 201 (20.4) 110200 182.39 2015 151 (15.3) 111000 136.03 2016 101 (10.3) 107831 93.66 2017 82 (8.3) 106700 76.85 Total 985 (100) Among the patients infected with brucellosis, 34.3 + (19.35) years. The highest number of cases 587 cases were males (59.6%) and 398 were was seen in the age group of 25-34 years old females (40.4%). The mean age of the patients was (20.9%), (Table 2). Table 2. The relationship between age groups and gender in patients with brucellosis in Abadeh county from 2011 to 2017 Male Female Total Age Group sex N % N % N % Less than 5 21 2.1 11 1.1 32 3.2 5-14 75 7.6 43 4.4 118 12.0 15-24 130 13.2 69 7.0 199 20.2 25-34 114 11.6 92 9.3 206 20.9 35-44 84 8.5 56 5.7 140 14.2 45-54 67 6.8 57 5.8 124 12.6 55-64 54 5.5 25 2.5 79 8.0 65≤ 42 4.3 45 4.6 87 8.8 Total 587 59.6 398 40.4 985 100 Based on the findings, 552 patients (56%) lived in rural areas and 433 of them (44%) lived in urban regions. Figure 1 represents the trend of infection with brucellosis based on the incidence rate categorized by the type of residence location during the studied years. 700 Total Urban Rural 000 , 600 100 500 400 Rate/ 300 Population 200 100 Prevalence 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Figure 1. The trend of infection with brucellosis based on the type of residence location in Abadeh county from 2011 to 2017. www.SID.ir185 Archive Epidemiological of SID Status of Brucellosis in Abadeh Most cases of brucellosis infection were seen in June (12.3%), respectively (Figure 2). the months of August (13.6%), July (12.9%), and 160 140 120 100 80 60 Frequency 40 20 0 Month Figure 2. Frequency of the number of patients with brucellosis according to the month of infection in Abadeh town from 2011 to 2017. Based on the results, 616 patients (62.6%) were The findings indicated that 956 cases (97.1%) in contact with animals, from whom 415 people were infected with brucellosis for the first time.