Epidemiological characteristics of brucellosis in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Aim: To analyze the frequency and distribution of human brucellosis in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period 2001-2008, and measures and activities undertaken for prevention and control of the disease.

Method: In this descriptive, retrospective study, we used official reports on infectious diseases from public health institutes at the federal and cantonal level, as well as epidemiological surveys. For comparison with animal brucellosis cases, we used the distribution data from veterinary surveillance.

Results: Since 2001, the number of infected people has rapidly increased and brucellosis has become a very important public health problem. In the period 2001-2008, there were 1639 human brucellosis cases and the number of cases increased every year. The morbidity rate over the study period ranged from 3.8 to 33.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. According to epidemiological surveys, in villages human brucellosis was transmitted mostly by contact with infected animals and their products, and in cities by consumption of dairy products made from contaminated, unpasteurized milk. When test-and-slaughter control approach was used, the prevalence of seropositive livestock was 4.6% and approximately 70,000 animals were slaughtered after testing between 2001 and 2008. From 1 June 2009, this approach was replaced with mass vaccination of sheep and goats.

Conclusion: The large number of human brucellosis cases and seropositive livestock poses a very serious problem for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The solution may be the introduction of mass vaccination.