Brucellosis testing patterns at health facilities in Arusha region, northern Tanzania

Lukambagire, A. S., Shirima, G. M., Shayo, D. D., Mathew, C., Yapi, R. B., Kasanga, C. J., Mmbaga, B. T., Kazwala, R. R. and Halliday, J. E.B. (2022) Brucellosis testing patterns at health facilities in Arusha region, northern Tanzania. PLoS ONE, 17(3), e0265612. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265612) (PMID:35320293) (PMCID:PMC8942238)

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Abstract

Background: Brucellosis is listed as one of six priority zoonoses in Tanzania’s One Health strategic plan which highlights gaps in data needed for the surveillance and estimation of human brucellosis burdens. This study collected data on current testing practices and test results for human brucellosis in Arusha region, northern Tanzania. Methods: Retrospective data were extracted from records at 24 health facilities in Arusha region for the period January 2012 to May 2018. Data were captured on: the test reagents used for brucellosis, procurement and testing protocols, the monthly number of patients tested for brucellosis and the monthly number testing positive. Generalised linear mixed models were used to evaluate relationships between health facility characteristics and the probability that brucellosis testing was conducted in a given month, and the proportion of individuals testing positive. Results: Four febrile Brucella agglutination tests were used widely. The probability of testing for brucellosis in a given month was significantly associated with an interaction between year of testing and facility ownership. Test probability increased over time with more pronounced increases in privately owned as compared to government facilities. The proportion of individuals testing positive for brucellosis was significantly associated with facility type and district, with individuals tested in hospitals in Meru, Monduli and Ngorongoro districts more likely to test positive. Conclusions: Febrile Brucella agglutination tests, known for their poor performance, were the mainstay of brucellosis testing at health facilities in northern Tanzania. The study indicates that historical data on human brucellosis in Arusha and other regions are likely to provide an inaccurate measure of true disease burden due to poor performance of the tests used and variation in testing practices. Measures to address these identified shortcomings could greatly improve quality of testing and surveillance data on brucellosis and ultimately inform prevention and control of this priority disease.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:Funding: ASL, CM, RBY, RRK were supported by the DELTAS Africa Initiative Afrique One-ASPIRE scholarship scheme (Afrique One-ASPIRE/DEL-15-008, http://afriqueoneaspire.org) GMS, BTM, JEBH were supported by the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems program grant number BB/L018845 http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Halliday, Dr Jo
Creator Roles:
Halliday, J.Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Authors: Lukambagire, A. S., Shirima, G. M., Shayo, D. D., Mathew, C., Yapi, R. B., Kasanga, C. J., Mmbaga, B. T., Kazwala, R. R., and Halliday, J. E.B.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:PLoS ONE
Publisher:Public Library of Science
ISSN:1932-6203
ISSN (Online):1932-6203
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 Lukambagire et al.
First Published:First published in PLoS ONE 17(3):e0265612
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
190785Molecular epidemology of brucellosis in northern TanzaniaDaniel HaydonBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)BB/L018845/1Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine