Seroprevalence of Human Brucellosis in High Risk Groups in the National Survey Young Sill Choi* 1, Young Rok Kim 1, Sang Hee Park 1, Soo Kyung Shim 1, Kyu Jam Hwang 1. Hyeon Sul Im 2, Jun-WooK Kwon 3, Il Hoon Park 3, Myoung Hui Kim 3, Soon Young Seo 3, Young-A Kang 4, Chaeshin Chu 4 and Mi Yeoun Park 1 1; Div. of Zoonoses, Center for Immunology & Pathology, 2; Dep. of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine. 3 ; Div. of Communicable Disease Control, 4 ; Div. of Epidemic Intelligence Service, Center for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response, CDC, Seoul, Korea. Introduction Introduction Human brucellosis has become a major zoonosis with a dramatic increase in case report since It was classified and controlled it as a class 3 notifiable diseases in Communicable Disease Prevention Act. Human brucellosis is closely related to certain occupational groups, such as livestock workers, veterinarians and artificial insemination technicians. On the increasing bovine brucellosis, we randomly selected samples from high risk groups in 50 cities and counties with an evidence of bovine brucellosis. The objective of this nationwide study is to find the seroprevalence of brucellosis among high risk groups Materials and Method Materials and Method Serology Test 1: he standard tube agglutination test (STA) (BD, USA) The standard tube agglutination test (STA) (BD, USA) A single titer of ≥ 160 A single titer of ≥ 160 A fourfold rise in titer was considered significant positive A fourfold rise in titer was considered significant positive Serology Test 2: nzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA IgG, IgM, ANBIO, Australia). ≥ 11 was positive ANBIO, Australia). ≥ 11 was positive Dept. of Bacteriology, KNIH Conclusion Conclusion This study indicates that brucellosis in Korea is mainly concerned with livestock industry and infection by unprotected contact is the major route of transmission. Although the seroprevlaence is found to be relatively low in the world, this epidemiological study will contribute to the understanding of brucellosis and eventually facilitate its control and prevention in Korea. References References 1. Araj GF, Azzam RA. Seroprevalence of brucella antibodies among persons in high-risk occupation in Lebanon. Epidemiol Infect 1996; 117: Mahmoud N Abo-Shehada, Jumana S Odeh, Mahmoud Abu-Essud and Nizar Abuharfei. Seroprevalence of Brucellosis among High Risk People in Northern Jordan. International Journal of Epidemiology vol. 25, No. 2: Asymptom 13Symptom 0.30% Total 0.27%3741 Artificial insemination technicians 1.79%3356Veterinarians 0.22% 6,720 15Livestock workers (%) No. ExaminedNo. Seropositives Occupation Total Table 2. The Seroprevalence of Human Brucellosis in High Risk Groups livestock workers Veterinarians Artificial insemination technicians Fig. 4. Seropositive rates of High Risk Groups % (15/5750) 2.09%(6/287) 0.31%(1/324) Years Number of Human Brucellosis Fig. 1. Cases of Human Brucellosis Reported by KCDC livestock workers Veterinarians Artificial insemination technicians Fig. 2. Number of Samples in Tested Areas for the National Survey DG GJ DJ US GG GW CB CN JB JN GB GN JJ Results Results Blood samples were collected from 7,429 persons belonging to the three high risk groups. They were consisted of 6,720 livestock workers, 335 veterinarians and 374 artificial insemination technicians The seropositivity were 0.22% (15/6,720) in livestock workers, 1.79%(6/335) in veterinarians and 0.27% (1/374) in artificial insemination technicians. We found that the veterinarians had the highest infection rate professionals in risk