Seroprevalence of Human Brucella Antibodies and associated Risk Factors Among Patients Seeking Medical Attention at Community Hospitals in Selected Districts of Western Province in Zambia

Abstract

Introduction: Brucellosis is a neglected zoonotic disease that affects humans and animals and can lead to severe illness in humans and financial losses for households that rear livestock. The study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of human Brucella antibodies and associated risk factors among patients seeking medical attention at community hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional seroepidemiological study was conducted from 21st April 2021 to 21st April 2024 among patients seeking medical attention at community hospitals in selected districts of Western province in Zambia. 225 blood samples were collected from consenting participants. Sera were separated and analysed for anti-Brucella antibodies using the Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) in parallel. A questionnaire was administered to obtain epidemiological data related to exposure to the Brucella pathogen. The data obtained were coded and entered in the Micro-Soft Excel 2013® and analysed using STATA version 15®. Results: 197 sera samples were found acceptable for testing and analysis for this study, out of these, the seroprevalence of Brucella antibodies was 18.3% (n=36, 95% CI=0.13-0.24) and 4.57% (n=9, 95% CI=-0.68-0.28) on RBT and c-ELISA respectively.Among the risk factors considered, the number of animals was statistically significantly associated with Brucella seropositivity (OR 6.49, 95% CI=1.10-38.13, p-value = 0.039). Conclusions: Brucella antibodies are prevalent among patients attending health facilities in the Western province of Zambia. The number of animals were significantly associated with the Brucella seropositivity.