Namanda Augustine Taban, Kakai Rose, Otsyula Mary
Moi University, School of Public Health, P.O. Box 4606 - 30100, Eldoret, Kenya.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2009 May 1;3(4):260-6. doi: 10.3855/jidc.122.
Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that continues to infect many people worldwide. Though its mortality rate is low, long convalescent periods associated with brucellosis translate into reduced socio-economic capacity of the people affected. Human brucellosis is mostly transmitted from animals. In Kenya, the prevalence of the disease has increased recently, along with the increased hawking of unpasteurized milk. The extent of the risk such raw milk poses to human health with respect to brucellosis is unknown. This study investigates the possibility of brucellosis being transmitted through unprocessed milk sold by hawkers in Eldoret municipality.
In this cross-sectional study, 130 samples of unpasteurized pooled milk from hawkers and 14 pasteurized milk samples were collected from shops in selected estates using cluster and simple random sampling techniques. All samples were subjected to the Brucella Milk Ring Test (MRT) for screening. A milk consumption questionnaire was administered to households in the selected estates to establish their milk sources and consumption patterns. Data analysis involved comparing computed percentages of different variables.
A high proportion of households (77.5%) consume unpasteurized milk from hawkers. However, no antibody to Brucella was detected in any of the milk samples collected.
We find no evidence that hawked milk in Eldoret is responsible for transmitting brucellosis to consumers. More research in the potential transmission of brucellosis through milk consumption is recommended.
布鲁氏菌病是一种人畜共患病，在全球范围内仍在感染许多人。尽管其死亡率较低，但与布鲁氏菌病相关的漫长恢复期意味着受影响人群的社会经济能力下降。人类布鲁氏菌病大多由动物传播。在肯尼亚，随着未经巴氏消毒牛奶叫卖活动的增加，该病的患病率最近有所上升。这种生牛奶对人类健康造成布鲁氏菌病风险的程度尚不清楚。本研究调查了在埃尔多雷特市由小贩出售的未经加工牛奶传播布鲁氏菌病的可能性。
在这项横断面研究中，使用整群抽样和简单随机抽样技术，从选定社区的商店收集了130份来自小贩的未经巴氏消毒的混合牛奶样本和14份巴氏消毒牛奶样本。所有样本都接受了布鲁氏菌牛奶环状试验（MRT）进行筛查。对选定社区的家庭进行了牛奶消费问卷调查，以确定他们的牛奶来源和消费模式。数据分析包括比较不同变量的计算百分比。
很大比例的家庭（77.5%）消费来自小贩的未经巴氏消毒的牛奶。然而，在所收集的任何牛奶样本中均未检测到布鲁氏菌抗体。
我们没有发现证据表明在埃尔多雷特叫卖的牛奶会将布鲁氏菌病传播给消费者。建议对通过牛奶消费传播布鲁氏菌病的潜在可能性进行更多研究。
