Objectives The main Brucella species causing human infections in the Republic of Korea is Brucella abortus, which uses cattle as its host. However, since 2014, Brucella melitensis, which uses sheep and goats as hosts, has also been identified. This study investigated whether a shift has occurred in the predominant species of Brucella pathogens.
Methods Brucellosis is a class 3 infectious disease requiring mandatory reporting and registration in the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s infectious disease surveillance system (http://is.kdca.go.kr). Cases from 2014 to 2023 were studied, and whole-genome sequencing analysis was conducted using BruMLSA21.
Results Out of 51 patients, males (45 patients, 88.2%) were predominantly affected. Twenty-five patients (49%) came from the livestock industry, and within the livestock sector group, the route of infection occurred exclusively through contact (25/25, 100%), whereas in other occupations, it was split between contact (9/26 patients, 34.6%) and ingestion (8/26 patients, 30.8%). Among the 31 patients who underwent Brucella culture tests, B. melitensis was found to be more prevalent than B. abortus (14 patients, 45.2% vs. 11 patients, 35.5%). In all cases where B. melitensis was isolated, the infections were of foreign origin, consistent with the results of BruMLSA21.
Conclusion Regular monitoring of the causative agent of brucellosis is necessary due to its varying host preferences and antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, given the increasing prevalence of B. melitensis worldwide, changes in dietary habits (e.g., increased lamb consumption), and the increase in foreign workers and Chinese immigrants, a multi-ministerial One Health response will be required.
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Objectives
Brucellosis is one of the most common zoonoses in the world, and occurs mainly in farmers, slaughterhouse workers, and veterinarians via direct or indirect contact with infected animals or their products. The clinical symptoms of human brucellosis are nonspecific, such as fever, headache, chills, and sweating. Diagnosis and treatment of brucellosis requires laboratory tests. Although the serum tube agglutination test (SAT) is the standardized gold method, it is laborious, time consuming, and requires a number of reagents. A microagglutination test (MAT) variant of the SAT or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is recommended for serological diagnoses. For the simple and rapid diagnosis of brucellosis, the MAT was standardized using samples for the SAT to define positive and negative categories, and we then compared the sensitivity and specificity of the MAT and ELISA. Methods
Thirty SAT-positive sera and 60 SAT-negative sera were used in this study. Antibody titers of ≥1:160 were considered positive readings in both the SAT and MAT. <i>Brucella abortus</i> antigens and <i>Brucella</i>-positive control antiserum were used in the SAT and MAT. ELISAs of IgM and IgG were performed according to the manufacturers’ instructions. Results
The titers of the MAT differed according to antigen concentration. The optimal concentration of <i>B abortus</i> antigen was determined to compare the sensitivity and specificity between the MAT and SAT. The sensitivity and specificity of the MAT were 93.3% and 96.7%, respectively, for IgG with reference to ELISA, and 96.7% and 98.3%, respectively, for IgM. Conclusions
The optimal concentration of antigen for the MAT was 1:10. The MAT is less time consuming and requires less antigen and serum than the SAT. The results of the MAT showed good agreement with those of ELISA. The results of this study suggest that the MAT could be useful for diagnosis of brucellosis.
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