History and Objectives: Brucellosis is endemic in Iran and many cases have been reported in humans and animals. Therefore, this study was performed in 1996 to determine the prevalence of human brucellosis in Kashan.

Materials and Methods: A total of 2376 individuals were chosen for this study by multistage random sampling. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires to record personal information, occupation, history of contact with livestock and use of non-pasteurized dairy products and fresh cheese. In each case, 5 milliliters of blood was drawn and sent to Kashan’s Central Laboratory for serum separation and Rose-Bengal and Wright serologic tests. Results were analyzed by calculating the statistic confidence interval.

Results: In the 2376 cases studied, 22 (0.9%) had antibodies for Malt fever, 17 of item (77.3%) being male and the other 5 (22.7%) female. Age mean and standard deviation of those infected was 32.7±15.9 years, 72.7% of them being under the age of 40. Sixteen positive cases (72.7%) had high-risk occupations. 19 positive cases (86.4%) had contact with livestock, 18 (81.8%) had used fresh cheese and 21 (95.5%) had used non-pasteurized dairy products.

Conclusion: We therefore determined the prevalence of Malt fever in Kashan to be 0.9%. The disease is more prevalent in males and a history of non-pasteurized dairy use, use of fresh cheese and contact with livestock are of the risk factors for this infection.