Desta, Kassu(Associate professor, PhD fellow)Legesse, Mengistu(PhD, Associate professor)Zerfu, Biruk(MSC, PhD candidate)Mehari, Sintayehu2020-01-302023-11-062020-01-302023-11-062019-10http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/20535This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Sintayehu Mehari entitled ‘SERO-PREVALENCE OF HUMAN BRUCELLOSIS MALARIA-CO-INFECTION AND RISK FACTORS AMONG FEBRILE PATIENTS VISITED DERAYITU HEALTH CENTER AND KELEWANI PRIMARY HOSPITAL AT AWRA AND GULINA DISTRICT, AFAR REGION, ETHIOPIA’ and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Master of Science degree in Clinical Laboratory Sciences (Diagnostic and Public Health Microbiology) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality.Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease usually acquired through direct contact with the infected animals and consumption of contaminated milk and meat products. In humans Brucellosis presents similar signs with other febrile diseases like Malaria, typhoid and other febrile conditions. Objective: In this study weaimed to determine Sero-prevalence of human brucellosis malaria co-infection and risk factors among febrile patients visited Derayitu Health center and Kelewani Primary Hospital at Awra and Gulina district, Afar Region, Ethiopia Methods: A cross Sectional study was conducted among febrile patients visiting Derayitu Health center and Kelewani Primary Hospital at Awra & Gulina District of Afar region, Ethiopia from February to May 2019. After consent/assent obtained, demographic and clinical data were collected using structured questionnaire, 5ml venous blood was collected with plain vacutainer tubs. Serum was separated and stored in refrigerator after thick and thin blood films were prepared. Rose Bengal plate Test (RBPT) was performed and those positive sera were confirmed using ELISA. Giemsa stained thick and thin blood films, were made to look for the presence of hemo-parasites. Data were entered in Epi Data3.1 and exported to Stata 14 to analyze prevalence and potential risk factors at 95% confidence interval < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant Results: A total 444 febrile individuals (females constituting of 61.1%), age ranged from 2 to 83 years (mean = 26.1, SD = ±11.8) were participated in this study. Among all (444) individuals tested, 31.5 % (140/444) were found reactive by Rose Bengal plate Test and only half of the reactive (70/140) were found reactive again by Enzyme Linked Immuno sorbent assay. The sero-prevalence of Brucellainfection based on the two tests was 15.8 % (70/444). Being males (23.3%, X2= 13.05; p <0.001), illiterate (20.4%, X2= 6.21; p = 0.045) and rural residents (17.6%; X2 = 3.93; p = 0.047) were highly infected by Brucella infection than their respective comparison. Multivariate logistic regression model analysis revealed that drinking of raw milk (AOR=16.96, 95%CI: 2.27-126.69, p=0.006) and touching aborted fetus/discharges without protection iv (AOR=2.13, 95%CI: 1.08-4.20, p = 0.029) were found significantly associated with having brucellosis where as being females (AOR = 0.42, 95 % CI: 0.44 - 0.74, P = 0.003) were found associated with not having brucellosis. Of all (444) individuals, 19 (4.3%) were found positive for malaria infection (only for P. falciparum). Conclusion: Findings in this study clearly show that the sero-prevalence of human brucellosis among febrile patients is high (15.8%). The study also identified that consuming raw milk and touching of aborted material/fetus were the risk factors for brucellosis. Intervention focusing on awareness about the zoonotic nature of brucellosis and the role of raw milk in the transmission of the diseases is important to control the diseases.en-USBrucellosis, malaria, Sero-prevalence, Pastoralists, Afar Ethiopia,Thesis