Status of human brucellosis in district Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacteria, Brucella genus. Human is always an accidental host, infected from domesticated or wild animals. Methods: This study was conducted from September 2017 to April 2018. A total of 304 samples were collected in eight months duration from female of high-risk population connected with domesticated animals to investigate the sero-prevalence of Brucellosis using ELISA (Igm) in District Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Results: The high age wise prevalence was recorded as 32.25% in female with age group 21-30 by ELISA (p < 0.05). The prevalent rate was significantly high (p < 0.05) in Tehsil Batkhela (32.8%) than Dargai (22.75%). It was also recorded in the present study that the prevalence was higher from January to April. It was found 20.58%, 17.64%, 14.70%, 20.58%, 17.6%, 38.23%, 45.71% and 44.11% from September to April respectively. Conclusion: The present study concluded that the prevalence of brucellosis is significantly high among the age group 20-40 and from January to April 2018. Further studies will be required to show the prevalence of the Brucellosis all over the country. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences.

Automated summary

The study found significant differences in the prevalence of brucellosis based on age and geographical locations in Malakand District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The infection rate was higher from January to April.