Epidemiology of malt fever in Kermanshah province in 2011

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic, chronic and infectious disease in many developing countries, including Iran. This study investigated some of the epidemiological features of the disease in Kermanshah province in 2011.

Methods: In this descriptive study, all of the patients with brucellosis reported to the health center of the province during the year 2011 were studied. The demographic and some epidemiologic parameters of the disease were recorded in the questionnaires. All collected data were analyzed using SPSS (version19) software.

Results: Totally, 777 cases of brucellosis were reported to the health center of the province in 2011. The lowest incidence of brucellosis in the province was 40.8/100000 .The highest and lowest incidence rates were seen in Dalahoo (215.2/100 000) and Javanrood (12.6/100 000) districts, respectively. 47.4% of the patients were female and about half of the patients were under 30 years old. Raw milk was the most common cause of the disease consumed by 81.9% of the cases. Also, 87.6% of the patients were living in rural areas and the peak of disease was seen in the spring and summer months.

Conclusion: Despite the significant reduction, it seems that the incidence of disease in some rural areas of the districts such as Dalahoo and Sarpol-e-Zahab are very high.