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
Swine brucellosis there is currently no approved vaccine for swine brucellosis. In the United States, "B. suis" was the first biological agent weaponized in 1952, and was field-tested with "B. suis"-filled bombs called M33 cluster bombs. It is, however, considered to be one of the agents of lesser threat because many infections are asymptomatic and the mortality is low, but it is used more as an incapacitating agent. Swine brucellosis Swine brucellosis is a zoonosis affecting pigs, caused by the bacterium "Brucella suis". The disease typically causes chronic inflammatory lesions in the reproductive organs of susceptible animals or orchitis, and may even