Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Brucellosis is an important zoonosis that constitutes a serious hazard to public health. Control and eradication programmes have been implemented in many countries where brucellosis exists. Vaccination is the best method for controlling the infection and this must be the first step for the elimination of the disease. In Iran, Malta fever was first recognized in 1932 and control of animal brucellosis began in 1949. Our aim was to investigate the effects of animal vaccination in Iran from 1983 to 2008 on the incidence of human brucellosis.

Methods: In this descriptive study, the relationship between the domestic animals vaccination with the incidence of human brucellosis was assessed with the SPSS software, which Pearson correlation coefficient was used for this purpose

Results: Statistical analysis showed that Pearson correlation coefficient of cattle vaccination and human brucellosis(r= -0.48), sheep and goat vaccination and human incidence rate (r=-0.44) are negative (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Animal vaccination seemed to have decreased the human incidence. The control of brucellosis can be achieved if the animal population’s resistance to disease would be increased. It is accepted that vaccination is more acceptable and effective than other methods applied for this purpose. Combination of health education and animal vaccination programs for control of human brucellosis are very important.