Framing Land Use Linkages with Two Brucella Species Prevalence in Human Brucellosis

This article reports the results of an investigation on the prevalence of neglected zoonotic brucellosis in humans, within the context of changing land use between livestock and wild animals. Uganda, like most countries on the African continent, has limited data on human co-infection with the two Brucella species: Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis. Published articles comparing the prevalence of these two species of Brucella in humans, even for areas already described as brucellosis hotspots in Uganda, are non-existent. The prevalence of B. abortus and B. melitensis was analyzed using field data collected through serological surveys with pastoralist communities living around Lake Mburo National Park in western Uganda. The results revealed that 12.8% (67/524) of all the people examined for brucellosis tested positive. There was also a significant Brucella species prevalence difference between B. abortus and B. melitensis in humans, with B. abortus having higher mean prevalence (56.4%) compared to B. melitensis (43.6%). The results further showed that more than one third of seropositive individuals (40.3%) were co-infected with B. abortus and B. melitensis. This study is the first to document B. melitensis prevalence in humans, as well as comparing B. abortus and B. melitensis in human brucellosis within an environment where wildlife, livestock, and humans interact daily. Therefore, these findings have the potential to inform policymakers and facilitate decision-making to initiate an ecosystems approach in public health education.