Ocorrência de Brucella abortus em trabalhadores de frigoríficos no Estado do Maranhão

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the occurrence of Brucella abortus in slaughterhouse workers in the state of Maranhão. For this purpose, 108 employees from five slaughterhouses directly involved in the slaughtering of cattle were invited to participate voluntarily. The collection of blood samples was performed by the cephalic vein puncture, conducted by a laboratory technique. Prior to the collection, each worker answered an epidemiological questionnaire to study possible risk factors associated with brucellosis in these professionals. The serological diagnosis of screening for anti-Brucella abortus antibodies used was Acidified Buffered Antigen (AAT), presenting four reagent samples (3.70% / 108), which were submitted simultaneously to the confirmatory tests. Slow Soro-agglutination in Tubes and 2 -Mercaptoethanol, the four samples being non-reactive. Among the risk factors evaluated, the "consumption of raw vegetables" presented statistical significance (P <0.05) associated with brucellosis. No positive results were identified for B. abortus in the 108 samples from slaughterhouse employees evaluated. However, since brucellosis is endemic in cattle herds in the state of Maranhão and considering the entire work process performed in slaughterhouses, there are great possibilities for this category of professionals to become infected.