Analysis of a investigation results on human brucellosis in Wenquan County, Xinjiang in 2014

Objective To explore the relationship between epidemic of human brucellosis and sex, age, occupation, Brucella species and biotypes of susceptible population in a Chinese remote border region, Wenquan County. Methods One thousand one hundred and forty-eight persons including 203 stockmen, 809 pastoral farmers and 136 veterinarians were tested by Rose Bengal plate test and standard tube agglutination test of 2014 in a Chinese remote border region. Then the whole blood samples of 12 acute patients were used to isolate and identify Brucella wild strains. Results The positive rate of detected persons was 8.97% (103/1 148). The positive rate of males (11.91%, 71/596) was higher than that of females (5.80%, 32/552). The population in the ages of 20-29 years was the most susceptible (9.56%, 13/136). The infectious rate of stockmen was the highest (10.34%, 21/203), followed by pastoral farmers (8.65% , 70/809). Four Brucella isolates were obtained from blood specimens and identified as Brucella melitensis biovar 3. Conclusions The epidemic situation of human brucellosis is very serious of 2014, in Wenquan County. The biovar of bacterial agent is consistent with the main biovar of overall China reported by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In the future, more cooperation between multi-ministries should be strengthened under the guidance of government in order to effectively curb the grim situation of Chinese resource-poor border regions of brucellosis. Key words: Brucellosis; Border region; Susceptible population; Age; Sex