Evaluating the Incidence and Recurrence of Brucellosis and Its Risk Factors in Fars Province from 2014 to 2018

Background: Brucellosis, a zoonotic disease, poses a significant health and economic challenge in many parts of the world, including Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors and recurrence of brucellosis, focusing on demographic variables such as age, gender, occupation, place of residence, and the spatiotemporal pattern of the population.Methods: The study design was cross-sectional.The authors enrolled all Brucella cases registered in the infectious disease surveillance system of Fars province from 2014 to 2018 in the study. They performed a multivariate analysis of the disease risk factors using a Poisson regression model and a multivariate analysis of the risk factors associated with brucellosis recurrence using a logistic regression model.Results: The incidence of brucellosis in Fars province exhibited a decreasing trend. The findings revealed that the sex ratio of patients who consumed unpasteurized dairy products, the mean age of patients per month, and the proportion of people living in rural areas relative to the total number of patients with brucellosis were significantly associated with the risk of brucellosis. Moreover, the probability of disease recurrence was higher in colder seasons compared to spring.Conclusion: A higher ratio of lightweight livestock to heavyweight livestock was identified as a risk factor for brucellosis, indicating the more significant role of lightweight livestock in the incidence of brucellosis in Fars province. Therefore, controlling the disease in lightweight livestock is of paramount importance, and the vaccination of these livestock should be more strictly monitored and implemented.