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Background: Brucellosis is a major health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. Following infection with brucella, antibodies appear in the serum and its titer detection can help us to evaluate the course and epidemic status of the infection. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of anti-brucella antibody titer in rural population of Abhar. Patients and methods: In this descriptive study, 300 individuals were randomly selected for whom blood samples were screened to determine anti-brucella antibody titter, using standard tube agglutination (STA) and Coombs tests. Results: The seroprevalence of anti-brucella antibody titer was 1.25% for STA and 4.58% for Coombs test. Totally, 14 (5.83%) individuals had titers of 1/80 or higher in STA and/or Coombs tests. Conclusions: Our results emphasizes on the necessity of conducting comprehensive and scheduled program of seroprevalence survey, particularly in rural area, aimed at reducing brucella prevalence as well as to guide planning and resource allocation of decision makers for future interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by Leishmania infantum in Mediterranean basin and is an endemic disease in some parts of Iran. Canines are the main reservoirs of VL in most of the endemic areas. Different serological methods have been introduced for diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL)., Objective: In this survey a Fucose-Mannose Ligand (FML) ELISA, using native L. infantum antigen, was developed and its validity for detection of infected dogs in comparison with direct agglutination test (DAT) and PCR was evaluated., Methods: Blood samples of sixty ownership dogs (≤ 3 years old) were collected from Meshkin-shahr district in Ardabil province, North-west of Iran. Sera were separated for serological assays (DAT and FML-ELISA) and the buffy coats were collected for molecular evaluation., Results: Two out of the 60 (3.33%) samples were found to be positive (antibody titer of ≥ 1/320) in DAT while seven of the 60 (11.66%) samples were positive by FML-ELISA. Nine out of 60 (15%) buffy coat samples showed a band about 680 bp indicative of L. infantum in PCR. Three out of 60 dogs had Kala-azar symptoms and were positive by PCR and FML-ELISA, while two of these three dogs had antibody titers >1/320 in their serum samples. The sensitivity and specificity of FML-ELISA for the detection of CVL in both symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs were found to be 77.8% and 100%, respectively., Conclusion: Considering the acceptable sensitivity and high specificity of FML-ELISA, use of this serological method can be recommended for epidemiological surveys of CVL.