Updated Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis — China, 2019
Hai Jiang, Lan Feng, Jinxing Lu
Abstract
Brucellosis is a neglected infection that has a widespread geographic distribution. Based on an evaluation from the World Health Organization (WHO), brucellosis cases have been reported in more than 170 countries with about 500,000 new cases being reported each year. However, the actual number of brucellosis patients is much higher, and it is believed to be approximately 10-25 times the number of reported cases (1). This big discrepancy between the reported rate and the actual incidence rate is largely due to misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis, especially in endemic areas. With the aim of improving the diagnostic capacity, the National Health Commission of China released its updated Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis (WS 269-2019) on July 1, 2019. Compared with the old guidelines (WS 269-2007), there are three major changes in the new guidelines including new detection methods, revised classification of brucellosis stages, and biosafety requirements. In particular, the new guidelines mention lateral flow assays (LFA) as one of the new detection methods that are expected to provide fast and simple point-of-care testing at county-level clinics and CDC labs.