Family outbreak of brucellosis. The importance of epidemiological suspicion

Abstract

Background: Brucellosis is the most widespread zoonosis in the world. In Spain its incidence has decreased considerably in recent years thanks to the social and health measures carried out. 40 cases of brucellosis have been reported in humans in 2018, representing a rate of 0.09 per 100,000 inhabitants. The objective of the study was to highlight the importance of epidemiological suspicion, as well as the screening of relatives for the diagnosis of the disease.

Methods: A descriptive study of a family outbreak of imported brucellosis was carried out. Five members of the same family were evaluated after the diagnosis of brucellosis in a patient in the Health Area III of Zaragoza, in May 2019. The relatives of the patient and the health center were contacted by telephone to investigate the possibility of involvement of the relatives with whom he had traveled and lived in Morocco.

Results: In a scenario with a low frequency of disease such as our country at the present time, family screening, after an initial diagnosis of imported brucellosis, allowed the detection and treatment of four members of the same family of Maghreb origin. They were infected during a trip to their place of origin in April 2019, a month in which they lived in rural areas in contact with animals (sheep, goats, cows) and consumed dairy and meat products. The appearance of presented symptoms was temporally consistent with the incubation period of the disease.

Conclusions: Emphasize the importance of active surveillance and screening in relatives of patients diagnosed with Brucellosis, since they generally share exposures to a common source.