|
Brucellosis - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
|
Brucellosis : Brucellosis: An infectious disease due to the myalgia (muscle pain) and back pain.
Brucellosis is named after its bacterial cause. It also called undulant fever because the fever is typically undulant, rising and falling like a wave.
Brucellosis is transmitted through contaminated and untreated milk and milk products and by direct contact with infected animals (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, camels, buffaloes, wild ruminants and,
very recently, seals), and animal carcasses. Transmission can be through abrasions of the skin from handling infected animals. In the US, infection occurs more frequently by ingesting contaminated milk
and dairy products. Groups at elevated risk include abattoir (slaughterhouse) workers, meat inspectors, animal handlers, veterinarians, and laboratory workers.
The incubation period of brucellosis is usually one to three weeks, but sometimes may be several months after exposure.
The symptoms are like those with many other Urogenital symptoms may dominate the clinical presentation in some patients. The duration of the disease can vary from a few weeks to many months.
Brucellosis is an extremely variable disease. In the chronic form (more than a year after onset), symptoms may include chronic fatigue syndrome-like, depressive episodes.
The sequelae (long-term consequences) of brucellosis are also very variable. They may include granulomatous heart valves and great blood vessels).
Millions of people worldwide are at risk for the disease, especially in developing countries where the infection in animals has not been brought under control, heat treatment procedures of milk
(e.g. pasteurization ) are not routinely applied, and food habits such as consumption of raw milk and poor hygienic conditions favor human infection. In the US, there are fewer than 0.5 cases per
100,000 population. Most cases are reported from California, Florida, Texas, and Virginia.
Antibiotics (such as doxycycline and rifampin) are effective against Brucella. However, Brucella is localized intracellularly (within cells) and requires the use of more than one antibiotic for
several weeks.
Brucellosis can be prevented in people by controlling, or better, eliminating the disease in animals and avoiding consumption of raw milk and raw milk products. Proper heat treatment of milk or milk
products is important for effective prevention of brucellosis in humans.
Bioterrorism -- There has been concern about brucellosis as a possible weapon for bioterrorism . The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the US Congress, in a 1999 report,
however, considered brucellosis "not likely" to be a biologic threat for terrorism, because of the difficulty acquiring the seed stock of the agent (Brucella), the moderate difficulty in processing it,
the long incubation period, and the "very low" lethal effects of the agent.
Based on WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003)
|
|
|
|
|
