Abstract
Background and Aim: This study aimed at estimating the degree of agreement, specificity and sensitivity of RBPT, SAT, and ELISA in brucellosis detection in human and goat samples.
Materials and Methods: An analytical study was conducted involving parallel testing of 425 goat samples and 177 human samples to compare RBPT, SAT, and i-ELISA tests of brucellosis detection.
Results: A seroprevalence of 14.82% in animals and 11.86% in humans was detected using RBPT, 7.06% in goats and 5.09% in humans using SAT, and 6.35% in humans and 4.52% in animals using i-ELISA. The degree of agreement between the three tests in humans and animals was compared using Fleiss' kappa statistics where a moderate agreement (MA) was obtained for both with kappa value 0.57 in animals and 0.51 in humans and p<0.001. Kappa values in animals were 0.52 (MA) for RBPT and i-ELISA, 0.61 (MA) for RBPT and SAT, and 0.82 substantial agreement (SA) for SAT and i-ELISA. The kappa values in humans were 0.52 (MA) for RBPT and i-ELISA, 0.57 (MA) for RBPT and SAT, and 0.82 (SA) for SAT and i-ELISA, respectively. The study revealed a significant agreement in the tests for all the three tests, but there was SA between SAT and i-ELISA in both animal and human samples. Sensitivity and specificity of RBT and SAT were estimated using i-ELISA as a gold standard as follows, in goats RBPT: 100 and 91% and SAT: 100 and 99%, respectively, and in humans RBPT: 100 and 92% and SAT: 88 and 99%, respectively.
Conclusion: It appears that RBPT is good as a screening test, whereas SAT and i-ELISA are good for diagnosis purposes or confirmatory test. Keywords: brucellosis, indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, rose bengal plate test, serum agglutination test, Uganda.
Keywords: brucellosis, indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, rose bengal plate test, serum agglutination test, Uganda.