Sero-prevalence of Brucellosis among Veterinarians and Livestock in Junagadh Region of Gujarat State

Brucellosis is one of the most wide-spread zoonoses and is believed to be a re-emerging disease affecting more than hal f a million humans each year. The disease is common among ruminants, which act as major reservoirs of the organism. The present study was c arried out to find out the sero-prevalence of Brucellosis amongst veterinarian s and animals in and around Junagadh district of Gujarat state. All the serum samples were initially screened by Rose-bengal plate test (RBPT) and further analyzed by standard tube agglutination test (STAT). A titre of more than 80 IU/ml or greater in human serum samples, 40 IU/ml or greater in cattle serum samples and 20 IU/ml or above in goat serum samples were considered as serologically positive. A total of 75 serum samples were collected from veterinarians working in the region. The animal ser um samples comprised of 168 cattle sera samples and 45 sheep sera sample s. The overall prevalence by RBPT and STAT were 9.3% and 5.3% in human samples and, 7.9% and 7% in animals, respectively. Since th is infection is a proven occupation-related disease, extension education cam paigns are needed to raise awareness on the risk to veterinarians. Besid es, regular surveillance of the disease needs to be undertaken at local and nat ional level.