Brucella include arthritis or epididymo-orchitis, spondylitis, neurobrucellosis, liver abscess formation, and endocarditis, the latter potentially fatal. Human brucellosis is usually not transmitted from human to human; people become infected by contact with fluids from infected animals (sheep, cattle, or pigs) or derived food products, such as unpasteurized milk and cheese. Brucellosis is also considered an occupational disease because of a higher incidence in people working with animals (slaughterhouse cases). People may also be infected by inhalation of contaminated dust or aerosols, and as such, the CDC has labeled "Brucella" species as highly weaponizable. Human and animal brucellosis share the persistence of
Brucellosis is present. Currently, no effective vaccine is available for humans. Boiling milk before consumption, or before using it to produce other dairy products, is protective against transmission via ingestion. Changing traditional food habits of eating raw meat, liver, or bone marrow is necessary, but difficult to implement. Patients who have had brucellosis should probably be excluded indefinitely from donating blood or organs. Exposure of diagnostic laboratory personnel to "Brucella" organisms remains a problem in both endemic settings and when brucellosis is unknowingly imported by a patient. After appropriate risk assessment, staff with significant exposure should be offered postexposure prophylaxis and