Abstract:

Background and Objectives: Brucellosis is a public health concern and one of the neglected zoonotic disease especially in agro pastoral communities. Despite its importance there is limited information on the magnitude of this infections in the communities. This study was designed to determine seroprevalence and associated factors of human brucellosis among agro-pastoral communities.

Methods: A cross sectional community based study was conducted from May to July 2016 by using achieved sera from 382 participants from agro-pastoral communities in Sengerema, Mwanza. Socio-demographic and clinical data were obtained using structured data collection tool. Detection of B.abortus and B.melitensis antibodies were done by using agglutination test. Data was analyzed by using STATA version 11.0 software.

Results: The median age of participants was 30 (IQR: 15-40) years. Overall seroprevalence of brucella antibodies was found to be 14.1% (54/382, 95% CI: 10.6-17.5). Seroprevalence of B.melitensis antibodies was found to be 11% (42/382) while for B.abortus was 7% (26/282). Seroprevalence anti brucella antibodies indicating of co-infection with both B.melitensis and B.abortus was found to be 3.6% (14/382, 95% CI: 1.7-5.4). Male sex (AOR: 2.87, 95%CI: 1.24-6.65, P=0.014) and touching goat placenta (AOR: 2.59, 95% CI: 1.07-6.2, P=0.035) were independently found to predict B.melitensis infection. Only male sex (AOR: 2.59, 95%CI: 1.24-5.40, P=0.011) was independently found to be associated with infection with either of the two species.

Conclusion and Recommendation: Significant proportion if individuals in agro-pastoral communities in Sengerema is infected with Brucella spp. There is a need to have continuous brucellosis surveillance in various regions in Tanzania and to offer health education.