Comparative serology of human brucellosis in Korea

The study was carried out to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the tube agglutination test (TAT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the 2-Mercaptoethanol agglutination test (2-MAT) to detect human brucellosis patients in Korea. We examined 87 serum samples of people in the rural farm areas where bovine brucellosis had been reported. People in this study were divided into seven groups- farmers and their families, veterinarians, veterinary quarantine workers, livestock health control officers, artificial inseminators, livestock traders and healthy control individuals. Among 87 people, 65 were males and 22 were females ranging in age from 13 to 72 years. Of 87 serum samples, ELISA detected 21.84%, TAT detected 11.50% and 2-MAT detected 8.05% Brucella positive sera. Brucella specific IgG ELISA antibody titer was recorder higher in the individuals between the ages of 50 and 65 years. The highest prevalence rate of brucellosis(29.4%) was recorded in the cattle farmers and their family members followed by quarantine veterinary office workers (25%) and practicing veterinarians 01.1%). The majority of the Brucella sero-positive individuals in this study had a history of direct contact with animals.