Brucellosis related to exposure with camels
Objective: To describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients confirmed with brucellosis in the Cuban Hospital (Qatar) during 2014 to June 2016. Methods: Clinical and laboratory data were collected from the medical records of 41 confirmed cases of Brucellosis. Results: Patients were from six nationalities, predominantly Qatari (56.1% Fever of prolonged course (85.7% muscle and joint pain were the most common symptoms. 61% of patients had high titers in serology for Brucella melitensis or abortus, while 12.2% and 14.6% had positive blood culture and serology. The predominance of high figures for liver enzymes (AST and ALT) and Protein C reactive were observed. Conclusion: The clinical and epidemiological characteristics would be a reference for clinicians and especially when provides care to patients from countries with active transmission of the disease Introduction Brucellosis is a zoonosis transmitted to humans through contact with fluids of infected animals (sheep, cattle, goats, camels, or other animals) or foods products such as unpasteurized milk and cheese. It is one of the most widespread zoonoses in the world [1] Brucellosis has a high morbidity, both for humans and animals; and it is a major cause of economic losses and public health problems in many developing countries [2] The prevalence of brucellosis has been increasing due to the international migration and the dynamic of human populations; however, the incidence in the eastern area of Saudi Arabia decreased according to the report from 1983 to 2007 [3] Qatar is a non endemic area for Brucellosis with a low incidence compared to the neighboring countries [4] A decreasing trend in incidence was reported between 20042012, with the highest figures in 2006 (4.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) [5] The Cuban Hospital in Qatar serves an area of population in the western part of the country, where the largest populations of camels and rams are found. We aim to describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with Brucellosis attended in a community hospital in Qatar. Methods A descriptive study of case series of brucellosis reported in the Cuban Hospital in Qatar during the years 2014 to June 2016. The cases were confirmed using the clinical and laboratory criteria, which included: Clinical criteria: fever of acute onset or prolonged course associated with night sweats, arthralgia, headache, fatigue, anorexia, myalgia, weight loss, arthritis or spondylitis, and may include focalization symptoms (e.g. meningeal, hepatic, others) Laboratory criteria: culture and identification of Brucella species in clinical samples, the titre of antibodies greater than or equal to 160 in standard agglutination test in tubes for Brucella species. In addition, the presence of IgM antibodies was determined by ELISA. All the diagnostic tests were performed in accredited corporate laboratories [6,7] The following information was collected from the patient's medical records: demographic data, clinical picture, liver enzymes results, C reactive protein, cultures of clinical samples and serological test. The laboratory tests were performed using the following methods: Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT/TGP) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST/TGO) by *Corresponding author: Humberto Guanche Garcell Specialist in Epidemiology Auxiliary professor and researcher Hospital Joaquin Albarran La habana, Cuba Tel: +5355013515 Email: humbertoguanchegarcell@yahoo.es, guanche@infomed.sld.cu Citation: Garcell HG, Jimenez RR, Garcia EG, Pueyo PV, Martin IR. Brucellosis related to exposure with camels. J Emerg Rare Dis. 2018 Mar;1(2):108. Copyright: (c) 2018 Garcell HG, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.