Investigation of <i>Brucella canis </i>and<i> Brucella abortus</i> Seropositivity by In-House Rapid Slide Agglutination Test and In-House ELISA in Northern Cyprus

Abstract

The incidence of Brucella canis (B. canis) in humans is unknown in Northern Cyprus. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of B. canis and Brucella abortus (B. abortus) infection in human sera and evaluated the results obtained by agglutination-based techniques using standardized antigens made from B. canis comparatively. All of the subjects were negative in terms of Rose-Bengal plate test. Undiluted serum samples were initially screened by RSAT (rapid slide agglutination test), and those which were found positive were retested in the dilution of 1/25-1/200. Confirmation of the positive results was performed by using 2-mercaptoethanol SAT. The test antigen was prepared from the less mucoid M (-) variant of B. canis, and 1/1048 titered dog antiserum was used as positive control. In serum samples taken 225, 3.6% (8/225) was positive by B. canis M (-) RSAT, 4.4 % (10/225) positive by B. canis M (-) indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). 5.3% (12/225) positive by B. abortus S99 RSAT and 9.8% (22/225) positive by B. abortus S99 iELISA. Nine samples were positive both B. abortus M (-) RSAT and B. abortus M (-) iELISA. Seven samples were positive both B. canis M (-) RSAT and B. canis M (-) iELISA. One patient was positive all methods. It is important to evaluate patient samples with RSAT and iELISA. Until the notification system gives better results to the Ministry of Health, in order to reach the real data for Northern Cyprus, multicenter prevalence determination studies should be done for future.