Interestingly, to support this observation, a recent study found lesions in vertebral bodies of an Australopithecus africanus (who lived 2.5 million years ago) consistent with brucellosis, where the source of infection could be the consumption of infected tissues from wild animals. Phylogenetic studies suggest that brucellosis in goats emerged in the past 86,000 to 296,000 years through contact with infected sheep. melitensis in 1905, several observations would indicate that goats have been the host of B. ĭespite the first scientific evidence that goats were the reservoir host of B. Conversely, more than half a million new brucellosis cases per year occur naturally in the populations of developing areas of the world, a number which is thought to be severely underestimated. melitensis possession and use is still strictly regulated in the United States of America, Canada, and some European countries. Gradually, biological warfare moved on, and Brucella’s perceived status as a potential agent of bioterrorism declined, until the World Trade Center attack in 2001 brought bioterrorism back to the public’s attention. melitensis was considered a potential bioterrorist agent early in the 20th century. Due to causing a protracted, incapacitating disease with minimal mortality, the low infectivity dose required to cause infection (10–100 colony-forming units), and the potential for aerosol dissemination, B. ![]() Brucellosis is considered a severely debilitating and disabling illness that results in high morbidity with intermittent fever, chills, sweats, weakness, myalgia, abortion, osteoarticular complications, endocarditis, depression anorexia, and low mortality. Human brucellosis has had different names throughout time based on the main clinical symptom (fever) and the geographical location: Malta fever, Mediterranean fever, Undulant fever, Gibraltar fever, Rock fever, and Neapolitan fever, among others. capable of causing disease in humans ( B. Caprine brucellosis has been controlled in most industrialized countries however, this disease remains endemic in resource-limited settings, where small ruminants are the major livestock species and the main economical livelihood, such as the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America. Approximately 90% of goats are located in the developing world, where they are considered one of the most important sources of protein for humans. Worldwide, there are approximately 1 billion goats, with an increase of the population by more than 20% in the last 10 years. Successful control leading to eradication of caprine brucellosis in the developing world will require a coordinated Global One Health approach involving active involvement of human and animal health efforts to enhance public health and improve livestock productivity.īrucella melitensis is the etiological agent of caprine brucellosis, an infectious zoonotic disease with significant economic impact on both the livestock industry and public health. In this review, we describe a historical evolution of the disease, highlight the current worldwide distribution, and estimate (by simple formula) the approximate costs of brucellosis outbreaks to meat- and milk-producing farms and the economic losses associated with the disease in humans. While the disease has been successfully managed in most industrialized countries, it remains a significant burden on goat and human health in the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia (including India and China), sub-Saharan Africa, and certain areas in Latin America, where approximately 3.5 billion people live at risk. melitensis for centuries but around 1905, the Greek physician Themistokles Zammit was able to build the epidemiological link between “Malta fever” and the consumption of goat milk. Historical observations indicate that goats have been the hosts of B. ![]() melitensis is also the most virulent Brucella species for humans, responsible for a severely debilitating and disabling illness that results in high morbidity with intermittent fever, chills, sweats, weakness, myalgia, abortion, osteoarticular complications, endocarditis, depression, anorexia, and low mortality. Middle- to late-term abortion, stillbirths, and the delivery of weak offspring are the characteristic clinical signs of the disease that is associated with an extensive negative impact in a flock’s productivity. Caprine brucellosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by the gram-negative cocci-bacillus Brucella melitensis.
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