title: Seroprevalence of human brucellosis in and around Jammu, India, using different serological tests.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Brucellosis is a disease of zoonotic importance as it affects both human as well as animal's health, and therefore, directly affects animal productivity and human efficiency. Therefore, a study was conducted to estimate the seroprevalence of brucellosis in humans in Jammu and surrounding areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 121 sera samples from humans occupied with professional related to animals were collected and tested for anti-Brucella antibodies by Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT), modified RBPT (mRBPT), standard tube agglutination test (STAT), and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (I-ELISA). Sampling was done keeping in view with the occupation, sex, and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall seroprevalence of brucellosis recorded was 4.96%. The test-wise seroprevalence was 9.91% by RBPT, 9.91% by mRBPT, 9.09% by STAT, and 16.52% by I-ELISA. The prevalence of brucellosis was higher in >35-50 years age group compared to >20-35 years and >50-65 years. Sex-wise seroprevalence was higher in males than females. Taking I-ELISA as standard, the relative sensitivities of mRBPT, RBPT, and I-ELISA were in the order of mRBPT=RBPT>STAT. All the tests revealed high specificity values; however, among different serological tests, I-ELISA detected a maximum number of positive sera samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of brucellosis was found to be approximately 5%. The adult (>35-50 years) age male group was most vulnerable. The routine diagnosis of brucellosis involved the conventional serological tests, viz., RBPT and STAT, but each was associated with drawbacks which could give either false-positive or false-negative interpretation. Therefore, it is always recommended to use a battery of tests in the diagnosis of brucellosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kotwal
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Public Health, Brucella Laboratory, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: Division of Livestock Products Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Public Health, Brucella Laboratory, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.lastname: Rajagunalan
authors.affiliation: Division of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
keywords: Rose Bengal plate test; brucellosis; humans; indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; seroprevalence; standard tube agglutination test