{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,25]],"date-time":"2025-10-25T12:42:35Z","timestamp":1761396155407,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,14]],"date-time":"2021-11-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1636848000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Brucellosis in humans is under-detected and underreported in sub-Saharan Africa. Risk factors associated with Brucella infection and health seeking behaviour in response to brucellosis-like symptoms, amongst cattle farm workers and veterinary officials in South Africa, are unknown. Farm workers and veterinary officials (N = 230) were screened for brucellosis using commercial Rose Bengal Test (RBT\u00ae), IgM Enzyme-linked Immunoassay (ELISA)\u00ae, IgG ELISA\u00ae and the BrucellaCapt\u00ae test. Knowledge of brucellosis and risk factors for exposure to Brucella were also investigated. Seroprevalence varied according to test used: 10.1% (RBT\u00ae), 20.9% (IgG ELISA\u00ae) and 6.5% (BrucellaCapt\u00ae). Only 22.2% (6\/27) of veterinary officials opt to visit a clinic, doctor, or hospital in response to self-experienced brucellosis-like symptoms, compared to 74.9% (152\/203) of farm workers (p &lt; 0.001). Of the BrucellaCapt\u00ae seropositive participants, 53% (7\/15) did not visit a clinic in response to brucellosis-like symptoms. Weak evidence of an association between the handling of afterbirth or placenta and infection of a short evolution (RBT\u00ae, IgM ELISA\u00ae and IgG ELISA\u00ae seropositive) was found (OR = 8.9, 95% CI: 1.0\u201381.1, p = 0.052), and strong evidence of an association between this outcome and the slaughter of cattle (OR = 5.3, 95% CI: 1.4\u201319.6, p = 0.013). There was strong evidence of a positive association between inactive\/resolved infection and veterinary officials vs. farm workers exposed to seropositive herds (OR = 7.0, 95% CI: 2.4\u201320.2, p &lt; 0.001), with a simultaneous negative association with the handling of afterbirth or placenta (OR = 3.9, 95% CI: 1.3\u201311.3, p = 0.012). Findings suggest a proportion of undetected clinical cases of brucellosis amongst workers on cattle farms in Gauteng.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens10111484","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,14]],"date-time":"2021-11-14T20:51:53Z","timestamp":1636923113000},"page":"1484","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Knowledge of Brucellosis, Health-Seeking Behaviour, and Risk Factors for Brucella Infection amongst Workers on Cattle Farms in Gauteng, South Africa"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5932-3029","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Krpasha","family":"Govindasamy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0110, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6438-7828","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eric M. C.","family":"Etter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0110, South Africa"},{"name":"Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche (CIRAD), UMR Joint Research Unit, Animals Health Territories Risks Ecosystems (ASTRE), 34070 Montpellier, France"},{"name":"CIRAD, Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), University Montpellier, 34070 Montpellier, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0924-3178","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernice N.","family":"Harris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0031, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2840-5563","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jennifer","family":"Rossouw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Sandringham, Johannesburg 2192, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7391-1898","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Darrell A.","family":"Abernethy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Veterinary Wildlife Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0110, South Africa"},{"name":"Aberystwyth School of Veterinary Science, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Penglais, Aberystwyth SY23 3FL, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2268-9748","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter N.","family":"Thompson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0110, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"WHO (2012). 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