1. Brucella Antibody titers among cattle handlers in a rural community of Bangladesh

2. Ahmed B. et al, Bangladesh Journal of Pathology Vol. 21, No- 1, April 2006

3. Brucellosis is systemic bacterial zoonotic disease caused by six species of the bacterial genus Brucella It is manifested by acute or insidious onset with continued, intermittent or irregular fever, weakness and sweating The disease usually runs a chronic course. Disease is transmitted by – direct contact through skin, inhalation, ingestion Diagnosis is based on isolation of the organism, and serologic tests like agglutination tests and Enzyme immunoassay

4. 4 species of brucella are important human pathogen ( Brucella abortus, B. melinentis, B. canis, B. Suis) B. abortus and B. Melitensis are prevalent in indian subcontinent Brucellosis has a worldwide distribution both in animal and human. Incidence varies widely from ≤0.01 to ≥200 per 100,000 population. The situation of Brucellosis in Bangladesh is not known well.

5. Rationality and objective As the situation of Brucellosis in Bangladesh is unnown, the study was undertaken to determine Brucella antibody titer among cattle handlers in southwest region of Bangladesh.

6. Materials and Methods Design: Cross sectional descriptive study Period: July 2004 - Dec 2004 Study place: The study was done in IEDCR Subjects: 100 cattle handlers were involved in this study Specimen: About 5 ml blood was collected from the positive responder Test procedure: Serum were tested through agglutination tests for titer to see the seroprevalence.

7. Particulars of participitants ProfessionNumber Housewife53 Farmer33 Cowboy14 Name of districtPartici pitants Jhenaidah98 Faridpur1 Chuadanga1

8. Results TiterB. abortusB. melitensisComment <4075%82%Insignificant ≥40 to < 160 13%17%Past infection ≥ 16012%1%Recent infection

9. Conclusion This study reflect presence of brucellosis among human in Bangladesh. Prevalence from this study is not representative as it used agglutination test which is not a test of gold standard. Well designed studies with better diagnostic approach might bring a representative figure of brucellosis infection of the country

10. Limitations of the study Culture of the specimen is the gold standard test which was not done. Insufficient explanation in discussion No criteria for selecting study of places Very limited number of participitants