| Summary |
Between 1979 and 1981, a total of 16 persons were infected with Brucella abortus as a result of direct contact with infected cattle or contaminated materials. Thirty-eight serum samples were collected from persons who had direct comtact with infected cattle or contaminated materials, and 42 % of them (16/38) had an antibody against B. abortus. All 25 serum samples from persons who had no contact with the infected cattle or contaminated materials tested negative to the B. abortus antibody. The symptoms of patients were fever, lassitude, anorexia, poor libido, orchitis, and pain in muscles and joints. Two isolates of B.abortus were recovered from the blood of two patients. They were identified as biotypes 1 and 2 B. abortus by bilolgicaL biochemical and serological examinations and bacteriophage typing. The status of the B. abortus antibody response of four patients was followed for ten years (1981 -1990). Two of these patients maintained the 1 : 40 agglutination antibody titers and 1 : 5 complement-fixation antibody titers ten years after infection.
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