Human Brucellosis: Risks and Prevalence among Iranian Blood Donors Residing in Endemic Areas

Brucellosis is a common zoonotic infection worldwide. Transmission can be occasionally observed via transfusion or transplantation. This study was designed to survey the seroprevalence of anti-Brucella antibody in blood donors in different endemic provinces.

A total of 14,706 blood donors from the 5 most prevalent provinces were studied by standard tube agglutination (STA) and any positive subjects were further confirmed by 2-mercaptoethanol agglutination test (2-ME). Significant titres were 80 for STA and 40 for 2-ME.

A total of 63 (0.43%) serum samples were STA-positive. Of these, the 2-ME test was reactive in 42 samples. The 2-ME test was reactive in 31 samples with a low titre. However, concomitant STA ≥80 and the titre of ≥40 for the 2-ME test were found in 11 subjects (0.075%), mostly resident in urban areas. Exposure to manure products was identified as a significant risk factor (p = 0.0128). : The observed data show a somewhat noticeable prevalence among Iranian blood donors, bringing attention to the importance of pre-donation screening via a questionnaire which supplies answers about occupational history, and any history of exposure or past infections. Further studies to evaluate the frequency and related risk factors in certain populations, in conjunction with implementing stricter regulations in blood donor selection in endemic areas, may be necessary.