Essam A El-Moselhy*, Hussien Zayet, Ayman S El-Khateeb,Abd-Elnaser S Mohammed, Diaa M El-Tiby, Ayman Abd El-Aziz, Hesham H Amin and Mohammad S Abdraboh
Background: Brucellosis is a disabling occupational disease and an important public health problem.
Aim: To define the seroprevalence of brucellosis among slaughterhouses workers in El-Menia governorate and to define their personal risk factors.
Subjects and methods: The study was conducted on 211 subjects of different occupations, working in 11 slaughterhouses in six districts in El-Menia governorate. These districts and slaughterhouses were chosen randomly. A cross-section, analytic study design was chosen to perform this research. Subjects were submitted to interviewing, physical examination, and lab tests (standard agglutination test (SAT) and ELISA).
Results: Brucella seroprevalence, among slaughterhouses workers, using SAT and confirmed by ELISA was 31.3%. Most of +ve Brucella Abs were males (92.4%) with infection rate 31.4%. The infection rate was more in the age group 40-49 years (37.9%). Also,it was more among veterinary workers (37.0%). The study showed although there was no significant risk regarding seroprevalence in relation to duration of exposure, there was a tendency towards increase in seroprevalence with an increase in duration of exposure.The only significant risk factor for +ve serology of Brucella was working in rural slaughter-houses (OR=1.92). Fever, back pain, myalgia, fatigue, abdominal pain and hepatomegaly were statistically significant differ between +ve and -ve Brucella serology subjects. But, fever and hearing loss were statistically significant differ among +ve Brucella species serology cases.
Conclusion and recommendation: Brucellosis is a prevalent occupational disease in Egypt. Further studies need to be done to understand the epidemiology of brucellosis in different areas and occupations in Egypt.
English 
Spanish 
Chinese 
Russian 
German 
French 
Japanese 
Portuguese 
Hindi