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Brucellosis is one of the most common zoonotic infections. Although culture is the gold standard diagnostic method, bacterial growth in blood cultures may not always occur due to various factors. We aimed to investigate demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings that may have predictive significance for bacteremia in brucellosis.

Patients older than 18 years of age followed up with a diagnosis of brucellosis between 2012 and 2022 were included in this retrospective multicenter study. They were divided into two main subgroups according to their Brucella species reproductive status as bacteremic and non-bacteremic.

A total of 743 patients, 370 (49.80%) bacteremic and 373 (50.20%) non-bacteremic brucellosis patients, were enrolled. The mean age of the bacteremic group (36.74 years) was lower than the non-bacteremic group (43.18 yr). High fever, chills/cold, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss were more common in the bacteremic group. In the bacteremic group, white blood cell count, platelet count, hemoglobin level, mean platelet volume, eosinophil, and neutrophil counts were lower, and lymphocyte, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and ferritin levels were higher. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, when the cut-off value of ferritin was considered 67, it was the parameter with the strongest predictive significance in Brucella bacteremia.

High ferritin level, low eosinophil count, and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate were determined as the most critical laboratory findings in predicting bacteremia in brucellosis.

Brucellosis is one of the most important zoonoses, which can be seen at higher risk, especially in livestock. This study aimed to evaluate the demographic characteristics and practices of people occupied in livestock on brucellosis. This cross-sectional survey was conducted between February 2023 and May 2023. The participants were asked questions about their socio-demographic information, level of knowledge about brucellosis, and basic practices during livestock. The mean age of the 204 participants included in the study was 41.53±15.66 years, and 64.7% (n=132) were male. Most participants were shepherds (45.1%). While all participants stated that they had heard of brucellosis and that the disease was transmitted from animals to humans, 12 (5.9%) stated that they had brucellosis before. No participants had received training on brucellosis. While all participants thought that brucellosis could be transmitted by consuming milk directly without boiling it, 98% thought that brucellosis could be transmitted from cheese made without boiling milk, and 96.6% from butter. The proportion of those who thought that the disease could be transmitted by touching abortion material or sick animals with bare hands was low (7.8% and 3.9%, respectively). The fact that the participants had some incorrect information and approaches about foodborne  transmission, that they had not received any training on zoonotic infections, that they did not comply with the hygiene rules in contact with waste material, and that wrong practices in the case of new animal participation in the herd reveals that more information and action is needed for the eradication of brucellosis.