Human Brucellosis in Khartoum State: A Commonly Underdiagnosed Disease.

Back ground: Human brucellosis is a major debilitating zoonotic disease. It is caused by bacteria of the genus BrucellaMethods: The serum antibody titres to Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus of one thousand febrile patients, randomly selected from Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman Teaching Hospitals, were estimated by the STAT.Results: Eighty nine (8.9%) of the febrile patients had brucellosis. The average age of brucellosis patient was 43.9 years. Sixty three (70.8%) of the brucellosis patients were males, and 26 (29.2%) were females. Fifty four (60.7%) of them had significant titres to Brucella melitensis while 23(25.8%) patients had significant titres to Brucella abortus. Twelve (13.5 %) patients had significant titres to both Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus. The average diagnostic delay of brucellosis in this study was 88.6 days.Conclusion: Brucellosis was found to be misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid fever. Animal contact was found to be a significant risk factor.Keywords: Brucella melitensis, Brucella abortus, agglutination.