Risk factors for human brucellosis in northern Jordan

Area of Science:

• Zoonotic diseases
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Brucellosis is a significant zoonotic disease with limited known risk factors in Jordan.
• Understanding transmission routes is crucial for effective public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and quantify risk factors associated with human brucellosis in the Jordanian population.
• To inform targeted prevention strategies.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study design was employed.
• 56 brucellosis cases were matched with 247 controls.
• Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess 17 risk factors.

Main Results:

• Milking sheep and goats (OR 3.5) and consuming raw feta cheese (OR 2.8) were significant risk factors.
• Consumption of cow's milk (OR 0.4) and boiled feta cheese (OR 0.4) showed a protective association.

Conclusions:

• Specific practices like milking small ruminants and consuming raw feta cheese are key drivers of brucellosis in Jordan.
• Training small ruminant farmers on safe milking and cheese-making is recommended.
• Further research into protective factors like cow's milk consumption may be beneficial.