en Health Improvement Strategies Health Improvement Strategies مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><b><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Background & Objective:</span></span><b> </b>&nbsp;</b><span style="color:black">Zanjan is reported as a hotspot region of brucellosis infection in Iran. This longitudinal study aimed to determine the epidemiologic pattern, as well as the risk of brucellosis by using geospatial estimation in Zanjan province.</span><br> <b><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">&nbsp;Materials & Methods:</span></span></span></b> &nbsp;<span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">The data used in this study were collected from health centers in Zanjan province from 2012 to 2017 after obtaining the approval of the Committee of Fighting Infectious Diseases. This longitudinal study was used to determine the annual pattern of the disease and identify high-risk areas using Moran&rsquo;s statistics, and then was analyzed using the spatiotemporal Cox model.</span></span><br> <b><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Results: </span></span></span>&nbsp;</b><span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">This research showed that the number of affected people in the province was increased after 2012, and the maximum number was observed from 2013 to 2014. However, from 2015 to 2016, there was a significant decrease. Spatial variations showed that the incidence of the disease increased in all areas over these six years. The temporal variations indicated that, from 2012 to 2017, the incidence of brucellosis in spring and summer was higher than in other seasons; thereafter, the incidence peak was witnessed in June, July, and August.</span></span><br> <b><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Conclusion: </span></span>&nbsp;</b><span style="color:black">The results of this study can be used to determine the starting point of future programs and evaluate their effectiveness.</span></span></span></p> Brucella infection, Geospatial, Longitudinal, Trend, Iran 247 252 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-5147-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Zahra Rostame rostame.175@gmail.com 5200319475328460088749 5200319475328460088749 No Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Soghrat Faghihzadeh s.faghihzadeh@gmail.com 5200319475328460088750 5200319475328460088750 Yes Dept. of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Behrouz Taghilou btaghilou@gmail.com 5200319475328460088751 5200319475328460088751 No Dept. of Entomology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Younes Khosravi khosravi@znu.ac.ir 5200319475328460088752 5200319475328460088752 No Dept. of Environmental Sciences, School of Sciences, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran