Author(s)

Ying-Hock Teng^1,2*, Jung-Jing Teng³, Samantha Chao⁴, Hsu Chao⁵, Suryakant D. Waghela^6,7

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung.
²Department of Emergency Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung.
³Residency Program, Civil Aviation General Hospital, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
⁴Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
⁵HGSC, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
⁶Veterinary Research Laboratory, Kabete, Kenya.
⁷Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of economic importance. The clinical manifestations vary in humans; therefore a good diagnostic test is required to confirm the disease. The serum tube agglutination (SA) test, though still the most widely test used, can be problematic for the diagnosis of chronic infections. The other supplementary tests, such as the complement fixation (CF) test and ELISA, require special equipment, reagents and trained personnel. The Rose Bengal plate (RBP) test has shown potential as a good rapid diagnostic test. This is a report of serum samples from suspected cases of brucellosis that were tested using the RBP, SA and CF tests. The RBP test was shown to have a better relative sensitivity and as good specificity as the SA when compared with the CF test, and may be a useful initial diagnostic test for hospitals in remote rural areas if properly conducted with well stored antigen.

Brucellosis, Human, Diagnosis, Rose Bengal Plate Test

Teng, Y. , Teng, J. , Chao, S. , Chao, H. and Waghela, S. (2017) Comparison of the Rose Bengal Plate and the Complement Fixation Tests with the Tube Agglutination Test for Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis. Open Journal of Clinical Diagnostics, 7, 73-82. doi: 10.4236/ojcd.2017.73008.