Sama Yektay , Rasoul Alimi , Fahimeh Attarian , Hadi Alizadeh Siuki , Mahdi Gholian Aval , Abdolmajid Gholizadeh
{"title":"Brucellosis and associated risk factors, spatial distribution and cluster analysis: Case study in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran","authors":"Sama Yektay , Rasoul Alimi , Fahimeh Attarian , Hadi Alizadeh Siuki , Mahdi Gholian Aval , Abdolmajid Gholizadeh","doi":"10.1016/j.jiph.2025.102747","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Brucellosis is a common zoonotic disease in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis and its affecting factors in Khorasan Razavi province, an endemic region in north-eastern Iran.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>In this descriptive-analytical study, the data of 15,334 brucellosis cases in Khorasan Razavi province from 2016 to 2022 were analyzed. Descriptive analysis and geographic information system (GIS)-based Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) were conducted to assess the demographic factors and spatial modeling of the study population. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were used for intergroup comparisons. A latent class cluster analysis (LCCA) in R programming language (poLCA) was employed to identify clusters and better understand the factors affecting the disease.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The results indicated that most of the brucellosis cases had been registered from 2020 to 2022 (26.5 %, 21.4 %, and 14.5 % of the total cases). The average incidence rate of brucellosis during the study period was 33.57 cases per 100,000 population. Over 84 % of the cases in clusters 1 and 3 (60.4 % of the whole study population) were males who often lived in rural areas. Only 29.3 % of the patients had a job related to livestock. These findings are consistent with the data on the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products and the history of animal vaccination.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Brucellosis cannot be significantly controlled by merely focusing on people working in the livestock industry, highlighting the impact of herd vaccination, and promoting public awareness, especially among housewives and younger people. Meanwhile, proper handling and disposal of infected animals, regular quarantine and inspection of livestock, and sanitization of animal environments have been recommended.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16087,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Infection and Public Health","volume":"18 6","pages":"Article 102747"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Infection and Public Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034125000966","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INFECTIOUS DISEASES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Brucellosis and associated risk factors, spatial distribution and cluster analysis: Case study in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran
Background
Brucellosis is a common zoonotic disease in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis and its affecting factors in Khorasan Razavi province, an endemic region in north-eastern Iran.
Methods
In this descriptive-analytical study, the data of 15,334 brucellosis cases in Khorasan Razavi province from 2016 to 2022 were analyzed. Descriptive analysis and geographic information system (GIS)-based Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) were conducted to assess the demographic factors and spatial modeling of the study population. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were used for intergroup comparisons. A latent class cluster analysis (LCCA) in R programming language (poLCA) was employed to identify clusters and better understand the factors affecting the disease.
Results
The results indicated that most of the brucellosis cases had been registered from 2020 to 2022 (26.5 %, 21.4 %, and 14.5 % of the total cases). The average incidence rate of brucellosis during the study period was 33.57 cases per 100,000 population. Over 84 % of the cases in clusters 1 and 3 (60.4 % of the whole study population) were males who often lived in rural areas. Only 29.3 % of the patients had a job related to livestock. These findings are consistent with the data on the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products and the history of animal vaccination.
Conclusion
Brucellosis cannot be significantly controlled by merely focusing on people working in the livestock industry, highlighting the impact of herd vaccination, and promoting public awareness, especially among housewives and younger people. Meanwhile, proper handling and disposal of infected animals, regular quarantine and inspection of livestock, and sanitization of animal environments have been recommended.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Infection and Public Health, first official journal of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and the Saudi Association for Public Health, aims to be the foremost scientific, peer-reviewed journal encompassing infection prevention and control, microbiology, infectious diseases, public health and the application of healthcare epidemiology to the evaluation of health outcomes. The point of view of the journal is that infection and public health are closely intertwined and that advances in one area will have positive consequences on the other.
The journal will be useful to all health professionals who are partners in the management of patients with communicable diseases, keeping them up to date. The journal is proud to have an international and diverse editorial board that will assist and facilitate the publication of articles that reflect a global view on infection control and public health, as well as emphasizing our focus on supporting the needs of public health practitioners.
It is our aim to improve healthcare by reducing risk of infection and related adverse outcomes by critical review, selection, and dissemination of new and relevant information in the field of infection control, public health and infectious diseases in all healthcare settings and the community.