Abstract
Brucellosis is one of the major neglected zoonotic diseases in India, and has been reported in animals and humans across almost all states of the country. Several health agencies have been working on this pathogen all over India. The Centre for One Health (COH), Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) has been established with the aim to strengthen the One Health Framework to work on one health issues in India. The Centre is very actively engaged in the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance, food safety and several endemic zoonotic diseases including brucellosis. Brucellosis not only affects the health of animals but also has impact on human health especially of occupational risk groups, for example veterinarians and dairy farmers. The tertiary care hospitals are now including human brucellosis in differential diagnosis in cases of fever of unknown origin. In the present study, where in COH is rendering brucellosisdiagnostic facility to the various stakeholders in Punjab state of India, a total of 417 human blood samples were tested for Brucella agglutinins using Rose Bengal plate test and serum tube agglutination (STA) tests during the period 2020-22. The blood samples were of the veterinary personnel, dairy farmers who approached COH for brucellosis testing and of the patients with history of fever of unknown origin referred bythe multispecialty hospital. Out of 417 samples, 85 (20.3%) were found positive for antibodies to Brucella with STA titre ranged from 160-10240 IU. Forty-one out of 161 patients referred by multi-speciality hospital for brucellosis were seroprevalence; majority of them belong to non-occupationally exposed population. The findings revealed the endemic status of brucellosis in the state, thus reflecting the continuous exposure of human to this zoonotic disease, and indicates the presence of infection in both occupational as well as non-occupational groups. Veterinarians and farmers most of the time due to nature of their work have the awareness about this pathogen, but non-occupational groups need to be educated about the transmission, prevention and control of this disease.
