Molecular prevalence, phylogenetic analysis, and PCR-based detection of Brucella melitensis in humans and cattle in Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease due to Brucella melitensis, considered a zoonotic agent affecting humans and animals, especially in areas with high disease occurrence, south Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This work was designed to evaluate the molecular rate of B. melitensis in humans and cattle species and also to perform a phylogenetic analysis between both species. A cross-sectional survey involving 800 participants, including 600 cattle and 200 human participants, underwent blood sample collection with conventional PCR and IS711 locus PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. The findings detected Brucella melitensis in 37 of the 800 samples, with a molecular prevalence of 3.1 % in cattle and 9 % in humans. The molecular trees play a role in zoonotic transmission and point to the necessity of a further unified approach toward the management of brucellosis in both humans and animals. This is further backed by the use of 95 % C.I for the prevalence rates making the results statistically robust. This research shows that using the IS711 insertion sequence is an efficient and selective method for identifying Brucella species.