Brucellosis can be a pretty nasty disease. Most people with brucellosis are infected through ingestion of contaminated food or contact with infected farm animals.
Brucella abortus, B. melitensis and B. suis are most commonly implicated. However, there is also Brucella canis which (not surprisingly) is associated with dogs.
Human infections with B. canis are much less commonly diagnosed than those caused by other Brucella species, but it is possible that this is an underdiagnosed problem.
Brucellosis can cause a wide range of problems, but most are rather non-specific such as fever, headache, body aches, sweating and back pain. Recurrent, undulating fever is a common sign and can persist for long periods of time.
Disease caused by B. canis is similar to that caused by other Brucella species, but one reason this disease may be underdiagnosed is that tests that screen for brucellosis do not cross-react with B. canis.
Therefore, a physician might suspect brucellosis but move on to other possibilities if the initial testing (antibody testing) was negative.
Specific B. canis blood tests or culture of B. canis from blood or infected sites are required for diagnosis.
Overall, it's probably still a very rare disease but one that certain people should be aware of.
Many dogs that are infected have no detectable signs of infection.
The bacterium can circulate through the body continually or intermittently (spread from the gentials, where it likes to reside) for years. Some infected dogs show signs of illness.
Reproductive problems, including late-term abortion and decreased fertility are major problems. Fever, lymph node swelling, diskospondylitis (infection in the spine) and other problems can also develop.
The risk of human exposure is highest in people with close contact with breeding animals, particularly people in contact with dogs that have aborted fetuses or kennels with reproductive problems.
Most reported human infections involve people in close contact with aborting dogs.
The risk to owners of household pets (especially neutered pets) is presumably very low.
* People that have been exposed to dogs that have aborted fetuses and subsequently develop signs like fever and aches should make sure their physician considers B. canis infection.
* HIgh risk people (very young, elderly, immunocompromised, pregnant women) should avoid conatct with dogs that have aborted, or dogs from kennels with reproductive problems or known B. canis infection.
* Care should be taken when handling dogs that have aborted or in the process of doing so. Gloves should be worn when handling the dog, aborted fetuses and any potentially contaminated items. Uterine fluids can have very high levels of B. canis.
* Hands should be washed regularly and after removal of gloves.
* If abortion or reproductive problems are identified in a kennel, testing for B. canis should be performed. If present, an eradication program should be started.
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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bettyg
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thanks ali for breaking this up for folks like me; good info there! hugs
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AliG
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posted
You're welcome Betty hugs back atchya!
My other thread on "Neurobrucellosis" I forgot I was even researching it.
[ 07-27-2009, 12:14 PM: Message edited by: AliG ]
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
Oh wow, I'm really glad you posted this, as I was bit by a dog and that's how I got bartonella, but bart and brucella are quite similar. Had never heard of this strain.
Posts: 929 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2007
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AliG
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posted
I'm wondering if those with multiple miscarriages & gynecolgical problems, among their symptoms, should possibly be looking to this as a possible cause of treatment failure.
[ 07-27-2009, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: AliG ]
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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AliG
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posted
This is what I'm getting from what I've been reading:
Brucella can be transmitted by ticks.
Br. canis can infect humans.
It won't cross-react on other tests for Brucellosis & needs to be ruled out separately, via it's own specific test.
Symptoms may be similar to Lyme/Babesia/Bart/BLO
Treatment failures & relapses possible.
Combination therapy is necessary.
It's a coccobacilli.
More difficult to eradicate if not caught early.
[ 07-27-2009, 01:43 PM: Message edited by: AliG ]
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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AliG
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Received October 13, 2004 Accepted January 21, 2005
The transmission of Brucella canis to man commonly occurs through contact with infected dogs or their secretions, or through direct laboratory exposure.
The disease is underdiagnosed due to a general lack of serological testing facilities and misconceptions concerning its prevalence.
This report shows the potential use of an indirect ELISA (IELISA) for the diagnosis of human brucellosis caused by B. canis in a population of patients negative by smooth-Brucella antigen tests but positive by rapid slide agglutination test (RSAT).
One hundred and ten sera from asymptomatic people found negative by tests using smooth Brucella abortus antigen and by RSAT showed an IELISA specificity of 100 % when a cut-off value of 27 % positivity (%P) was selected. For 17 sera from patients with positive B. canis culture or in close contact with culture-positive dogs, the IELISA sensitivity was 100 % with the same cut-off value.
The positive patients presented clinical symptoms similar to brucellosis caused by other species of Brucella and some of them received antibiotic treatment and made good progress.
Using this cut-off value, we studied 35 patients with negative blood cultures but positive RSATs, and IELISA detected 18 as positive; of the 17 IELISA-negative, two were RSAT-positive at dilution 1 : 2 and 15 were weakly positive with pure serum.
These samples were probably from patients at an early stage of infection or indicate false-positive results.
No cross-reaction was observed among the sera from nine cases with a diagnosis other than brucellosis, but cross-reactivity was evident in sera from patients infected with smooth-Brucella species.
Since routine brucellosis diagnosis does not include B. canis investigation, infection with this species may be more widespread than is currently suspected.
The RSAT could be a suitable screening test for the diagnosis of B. canis human brucellosis, and a supplementary technique, such as IELISA, performed on all positive RSAT samples that were negative by B. abortus antigen could ensure diagnostic specificity and confirm the diagnosis.
[ 08-05-2009, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: AliG ]
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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AliG
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posted
up
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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Keebler
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posted
- Just another reason why Snoopy's kisses on the lips send Lucy into a major meltdown at warp speed! -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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AliG
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posted
LOL - cute one!
Hi Keebler - Hope you've been doing well!
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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