ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2011
The Rose Bengal Test in human brucellosis: a neglected test for the diagnosis of a neglected disease.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 100 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
100 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 227 citations in OpenAlex.
- Seroprevalence of brucellosis in humans and livestock in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Diagnosis of human brucellosis: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Pooled it
- A critical review of diagnostic methods for camel brucellosis.Veterinary and animal science · 2026Review
- High brucellosis prevalence and risk among children aged 5-14 years in Kenyan pastoral health facilities: A facility-based surveillance study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Seroprevalence, associated risk factors, and molecular detection of Brucella spp. in cattle, sheep, goats and humans in Mvomero district, Morogoro, Tanzania.One health outlook · 2026Article
- Brucellosis in the One Health Context: Gaps in Diagnosis, Control, and Global Epidemiology.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2026Review
- Brucellosis Abattoir Surveillance Using Serology and Molecular Tests Among Livestock in Free State and Limpopo Provinces, South Africa.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Review
- Brucellosis Seroprevalence, Analysis of Risk Factors, and Comparison of Test Methods Used in Diagnosis in a Tertiary Hospital in Kahramanmaraş.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026Article
- Seroprevalence and risk factors for Brucella species and Coxiella burnetii exposure in a cross-sectional serosurvey of occupationally exposed groups in peri-urban Lomé, Togo.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Stratum-specific serum metabolic reprogramming in Saanen goats with graded Brucella serological reactivity under natural exposure.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Design of a Prospective Human-Animal Cohort Study to Evaluate the Role of Camels and Other Livestock Species in the Transmission ofInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Development of a rapid and sensitive RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a-based assay for the detection ofMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Serological diagnosis of human brucellosis in Morocco and prospects for advanced diagnostic techniques.Iranian journal of microbiology · 2025Article
- Evaluating the diagnostic utility of the slide agglutination method for brucellosis in Saudi Arabia: A retrospective study at International Medical Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Diagnostic Performance of Four Serological Assays for Bovine Brucellosis and Optimised Cutoff Thresholds in an Endemic Region of Iran.Veterinary medicine and science · 2025Article
- Development and evaluation of a novel lateral flow immunoassay for rapid diagnosis of brucellosis across different animal species.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Comparative Evaluation of Diagnostic Tests for Brucellosis in Humans and Animals: A Meta-Analytical Approach.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- A detailed review of bovine brucellosis.Open veterinary journal · 2025Review
- Comparison of Brucellosis and Rickettsiosis in Children: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
40 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis affecting livestock and human beings. The human disease lacks pathognomonic symptoms and laboratory tests are essential for its diagnosis. However, most tests are difficult to implement in the areas and countries were brucellosis is endemic. Here, we compared the simple and cheap Rose Bengal Test (RBT) with serum agglutination, Coombs, competitive ELISA, Brucellacapt, lateral flow immunochromatography for IgM and IgG detection and immunoprecipitation with Brucella proteins. We tested 208 sera from patients with brucellosis proved by bacteriological isolation, 20 contacts with no brucellosis, and 1559 sera of persons with no recent contact or brucellosis symptoms. RBT was highly sensitive in acute and long evolution brucellosis cases and this related to its ability to detect IgM, IgG and IgA, to the absence of prozones, and to the agglutinating activity of blocking IgA at the pH of the test. RBT was also highly specific in the sera of persons with no contact with Brucella. No test in this study outperformed RBT, and none was fully satisfactory in distinguishing contacts from infected patients. When modified to test serum dilutions, a diagnostic titer >4 in RBT resulted in 87.4% sensitivity (infected patients) and 100% specificity (contacts). We discuss the limitations of serological tests in the diagnosis of human brucellosis, particularly in the more chronic forms, and conclude that simplicity and affordability of RBT make it close to the ideal test for small and understaffed hospitals and laboratories.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.