Seroprevalence of Human Brucellosis in and Around Puducherry: Application of an Immunocapture Agglutination Technique (Brucellacapt)

Abstract

The objective of the present study was the serological diagnosis of human brucellosis in and around Puducherry by application of Immunocapture-agglutination technique (Brucella Capt), which has been validated and found to be quite satisfactory. The study has included febrile patients, patients with chronic back pain/arthritis, healthy pregnant women, personnel exposed to domestic livestock and voluntary blood donors. Prevalence of brucellosis in these different categories was studied. Overall seroprevalence of brucellosis among different categories of individuals from Puducherry is very low, viz., 3.27%. Among febrile patients, the prevalence is almost the same with 3.33% positivity. Among 100 healthy pregnant women, only one had antibodies to Brucella abortus (1.00%). The category of animal handlers as expected had higher seroprevalence rate of 8.00%. All the 45 voluntary blood donors were seronegative for brucellosis.