Seroprevalence of Brucella in an elderly population in mid-Anatolia, Turkey.

Brucellosis is a widespread infectious disease in the mid-Anatolia regions of Turkey. This study investigated the prevalence of Brucella infection in elderly people of this region. In total, 750 elderly subjects were chosen by a simple random-sampling method. Blood samples were evaluated by the Brucella Wright agglutination test. Brucella seropositivity was detected in 24 (3.2%) of the 750 subjects. Although there was no statistical correlation between Brucella seropositivity and sex or educational level (p > 0.05), seropositivity was statistically significant with subjects exposed to risk factors (p < 0.001). It is concluded that Brucella infection is still an important public-health problem in the cities of mid-Anatolia.