Abstract
Background & objectives
The mycobacterium tuberculosis complex includes some of the most famous members of the mycobacterium genus that causes tuberculosis in humans and animals. Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the most common type of infection in humans, although this infection can be transmitted from humans to the livestock and vice versa. Due to the lack of systematic monitoring for Mycobacterium bovis and the inability of laboratory methods for detection and diagnosis, it can be assumed that the cause of all cases is on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. On the other hand, the incidence of tuberculosis in tropical and subtropical areas is different in various seasons. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the interactions of factors on human TB.
Methods
The ecology study was performed using the quarterly incidence of human pulmonary TB, pulmonary TB and re-treatment, bovine tuberculosis and quarterly meteorological factors (temperature, humidity and rainfall, sunny hours) in Razavi Khorasan province in advance of Covid-19 pandemic that had dramatic effect on incidence and prevalence of TB. Quarterly data from April 2007 till March 2018 (about 11 years) was used.
Results
The most cases of reported TB were in the winter and summer. Almost, an increase in sunny hours and air temperature was associated with a decrease in the incidence of tuberculosis (P> 0.05) and an increase in rainfall and humidity was also associated with an increase in disease. Correlation between incidence of human and bovine tuberculosis was direct in all seasons (P> 0.05).
Conclusion
The effective control of the disease requires regular collaboration between the various specialties and Surveillance systems. Having a fairly complete information of Surveillance systems can help to achieve this goal. At present study, there was especially an obvious information deficit related to the bovine tuberculosis data. Thus, this study was conducted as an introduction to this approach and identification of weaknesses in the Surveillance system.
Keywords: Tuberculosis, Bovine tuberculosis, meteorological factors, Surveillance system