Brucellosis Brucellosis Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis caused by ingestion of unpasteurized milk or undercooked meat from infected animals, or close contact with their secretions. It is also known as undulant fever, Malta fever and Mediterranean fever. "Brucella" species are small, gram-negative, nonmotile, nonspore-forming, rod-shaped (coccobacilli) bacteria. They function as facultative intracellular parasites, causing chronic disease, which usually persists for life. Four species infect humans: "B. abortus", "B. canis", "B. melitensis", and "B. suis". "B. abortus" is less virulent than "B. melitensis" and is primarily a disease of cattle. "B. canis" affects dogs. "B. melitensis" is the most virulent and
The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains () is a well-known fable from Chinese mythology about the virtues of perseverance and willpower. The tale first appeared in Book 5 of the "Liezi", a Daoist text of the 4th century BC, and was retold in the "Garden of Stories" by the Confucian scholar Liu Xiang in the 1st century BC. It was also used by Mao Zedong in a famous speech in 1945. The myth concerns a Foolish Old Man of 90 years who lived near a pair of mountains (given in some tellings