A disease of animals, especially cattle, caused by micro-organisms of genus Brucella, named after British bacteriologist Sir David Bruce (18551931); also known as contagious abortion. It can be caught by humans, commonly after eating infected cheese or drinking infected cow's or goat's milk, in which case it is called undulent fever or Malta fever.
| ICD-9 | 023 |
|---|---|
| DiseasesDB | 1716 |
| MedlinePlus | 000597 |
| eMedicine | med/248 |
Brucellosis (Undulant fever or Malta fever) is an infectious disease caused by the Brucella bacteria.
Nomenclature
The popular name of the condition is originated due to the inconstance (or undulance) of the fever, which raises and falls constantly.
In animals this disease is also known as contagious abortion and infectious abortion.
Transmission and incubation
The disease is transmitted either through contaminated or untreated milk (and its derivates) or through direct contact with infected animals, which may include sheep, pigs, goats, cattle, camels, bison, and other ruminants.
The incubation period of brucellosis is, usually, of one to three weeks, but some rare instances may take several months to surface.
Symptoms
Brucellosis induces inconstant fevers, sweating, weakness, anorexia, headaches, depression and muscular and bodily pain.
The symptoms are like those associated with many other febrile diseases, but with emphasis on muscular pain and sweating.
The disease's sequelae are highly variable and may include granulomatous hepatitis, arthritis, spondylitis, anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, meningitis, uveitis, optic neuritis and endocarditis.
Treatment and prevention
Antibiotics like tetracyclins, chloramphenicol, rifampicin and the aminoglycosides streptomycin and gentamicin are effective against Brucella bacteria.
The gold standard treatment for adults is daily intramuscular injections of streptomycin 1g for 14 days and oral doxycycline 100mg twice daily for 45 days (concurrently).
The main way of preventing Brucellosis is by using fastidious hygiene in producing raw milk products, or by pasteurization of all milk that is to be ingested by human beings, either in its pure form or as a derivate, such as cheese.
Brucellosis in dogs
The causative agent of brucellosis in dogs is Brucella canis.
Biological warfare
The United States biological warfare program focused on three agents of the Brucella group:
Porcine Brucellosis (Agent US) Bovine Brucellosis (Agent AB) Caprina Brucellosis (Agent AM)Agent US was in advanced development by the end of the Second World War. The main drawbacks of the M114 with agent US was that it was incapacitating (the USAF wanted "killer" agents), the storage stability was too low to allow for storing at forward air bases, and the logistical requirements to neutralize a target were far higher than originally anticipated, requiring unreasonable logistical air support.
Agents US and AB had a median infective dose of 500 org/person, and AM was 300 org/person.
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