A Short History of Brucellosis: Special Emphasis in Bangladesh

Brucellosis is an important disease caused by gram- negative bacteria Brucella that are pathogenic for a wide variety of animals and human. The disease is also called ‘Malta fever', ‘Mediterranean fever or undulant fever'. The main domestic animals that are affected are cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs (Moore and Schnurrenberger, 1981; Young, 1995; OIE, 2000). The principal manifestations of animal brucellosis are reproductive failure, i.e, abortion and birth of unthrifty offspring in females, and orchitis and epididymitis in males. Brucellosis in human being is usually characteristics by influenza like clinical disease, which may be severe and may be followed by chronic intermittent relapses (Hugh-Jones, 2000). The genus Brucella has six recognized species on the basis of host specificity. Among all six species of Brucella, the greatest economic impact results from bovine brucellosis caused by B. abortus. Brucellosis in cattle is usually caused by biovars of B. abortus. In some countries, particularly in southern Europe and Western Asia, where cattle are kept in close association with sheep or goats, infection can also be caused by B. melitensis (OIE, 2000). doi:10.3329/bjvm.v4i1.1517 Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2006). 4 (1): 01-06