Brucellosis

Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria. People can contract the disease when they come into contact with infected animals or animal products contaminated with the bacteria. The most affected animals include sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and dogs. This is a bacterial infection that is transmittes from animals to humans. Most commonly, people are infected by consuming raw or unpasteurized dairy products. Sometimes, the bacteria that cause brucellosis can be spread through the air or by direct contact with infected animals.

Signs and symptoms may include fever, joint pain, and fatigue. Infections can usually be treates with antibiotics. However, treatment takes several weeks to months, and the infection may recur. Brucellosis affects millions of people and animals worldwide. Avoiding raw dairy products and being careful when working with animals or in the laboratory can help prevent brucellosis.

Symptoms

Signs of brucellosis can appear anywhere from a few days to a few months after you are infected. Symptoms and signs are similar to the flu and include:

• Fever
• It’s getting cold.
• Loss of appetite
• Sweating.
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Joint, muscle, and back pain
• Headache

Symptoms of brucellosis may go away for weeks or months and then return. Some people have chronic brucellosis and experience symptoms for years even after treatment. Long-term signs and symptoms may include:

• Fatigue
• Recurrent fevers
• Inflammation of the lining of the heart’s chambers (endocarditis)
• Inflammation of the joints (arthritis)
• Arthritis of the spine (spondylitis)
• Arthritis of the joint where the spine and pelvis join (sacroiliitis)

Causes of Brucellosis

Brucellosis affects many wild and domesticated animals, including:

• Cattle
• Goats
• the crowd
• Pigs and wild boars
• Dogs, especially those used in hunting.
• Deer
• Elk
• Bison
• Caribou
• Moose
• The camel

A form of brucellosis also affects harbor seals, porpoises, and some whales. The most common ways bacteria spread from animals to humans are:

• Eating raw milk products. Brucella bacteria in the milk of infected animals can spread to humans in unpasteurized milk, ice cream, butter, and cheese. The bacteria can also spread in raw or undercooked meat from infected animals.
• Breathing polluted air. Brucella bacteria are easily spread in the air. Farmers, hunters, laboratory technicians, and slaughterhouse workers can breathe in the bacteria.
• Touching the blood and bodily fluids of infected animals. Bacteria in the blood, semen, or placenta of an infected animal can enter your bloodstream through a cut or other injury. Because normal contact with animals—touching, brushing, or playing—doesn’t cause infection, people rarely get brucellosis from their pets. However, people with weakened immune systems should avoid handling dogs known to have the disease.

Brucellosis is not usually spread from person to person, but in some cases, women pass the disease to their babies during childbirth or through breast milk. Rarely, brucellosis can be spread through sexual activity or through the transfusion of contaminated blood or bone marrow.

Risk factors of Brucellosis

Although brucellosis is rare in the United States, it is more common in other parts of the world, especially in:

• Southern Europe including Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Southern France
• Eastern Europe
• Mexico, South and Central America
• Asia
• Africa
• The Caribbean
• Middle East

Occupations at high risk

People who work with animals or who come into contact with infected blood are at increased risk of brucellosis. Examples include:

• Veterinarians
• Dairy Farmers
• Cultivators
• Abattoir workers
• the hunter
• Microbiologist

Complications

Brucellosis can affect nearly any part of your body, including your reproductive system, liver, heart, and central nervous system. Chronic brucellosis can cause complications in just one organ or throughout your body. Possible complications include:

• Inflammation of the lining of the heart’s chambers (endocarditis). Untreated endocarditis can damage or destroy heart valves and is the leading cause of brucellosis-related mortality.
• Arthritis. Arthritis is marked by pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints, especially in the knees, hips, ankles, wrists, and spine. Inflammation of the joints in your spine (spondylitis) or the joints that connect the lower spine and pelvis (sacralitis) can be especially difficult to treat and can cause lasting damage.
• Inflammation and infection of the testicles (epididymorchitis). The bacteria that cause brucellosis can infect the epididymis, a coiled tube that connects the vas deferens and the testicle. From there, the infection can spread to the testicle itself, causing swelling and pain, which can be severe.
• Inflammation and infection of the spleen and liver. Brucellosis can also affect the spleen and liver, causing them to become larger than their normal size.
• Central nervous system infections. These include potentially life-threatening diseases such as inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord (meningitis) or inflammation of the brain itself (encephalitis).

Prevention

To reduce your risk of getting brucellosis, take these precautions:

• Avoid eating unpasteurized dairy. In recent years in the United States, some cases of brucellosis have been linked to raw dairy products from domestic herds. Still, it’s best to avoid unpasteurized milk, cheese, and ice cream, regardless of their origin. If you are traveling to other countries, avoid eating all raw dairy.
• Cook the meat well. Cook an entire cut of meat until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 F (63 C) and let it rest for at least three minutes – medium. Cook ground beef to 160 F (71 C) – well done. When traveling outside the United States, avoid undercooked meats.
• Wear gloves. If you are a veterinarian, farmer, hunter, or slaughterhouse worker, wear rubber gloves when handling sick or dead animals or animal tissue, or when assisting with calving.
• Take safety precautions in high-risk workplaces. If you work in a laboratory, handle all samples under appropriate biosecurity conditions. Abattoirs must also implement safety measures, such as separating the slaughter floor from other processing areas and using protective clothing.
• Vaccinate pets. In the United States, an aggressive vaccination program has nearly eliminated brucellosis in cattle herds. Because the brucellosis vaccine is live, it can cause illness in people. Accidental needle sticks while inoculating an animal should be treated.

Diagnosis

Doctors usually confirm a diagnosis of brucellosis by testing the blood or bone marrow for Brucella bacteria or by testing the blood for antibodies to the bacteria. To help diagnose complications of brucellosis, your doctor may order additional tests, including:

• X-rays. X-rays can show changes in your bones and joints.
• A computerized tomography CT scan or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These imaging tests help identify inflammation or an abscess in the brain or other tissues.
• Cerebrospinal fluid culture. It checks a small sample of the fluid that surrounds your brain and spinal cord for infections such as meningitis and encephalitis.
• Echocardiography. This test uses sound waves to take pictures of your heart to check for signs of infection or damage to your heart.

Treatment of brucellosis

Treatment of brucellosis is aimed at relieving symptoms, preventing relapse, and avoiding complications. You will need to take antibiotics for at least six weeks, and your symptoms may not go away completely for several months. The disease may return and become chronic.