What is Brucellosis 
and Why should you test for it ?

Kenny and Christie Gates
Whispering Winds Kennel
Houston, Texas
Home:  713-455-9105
Email: kennygates@hotmail.com


Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that is well-known by food animal
producers. It causes abortions, infertility and deceased milk yield in
cattle. According to Dr. Allan Paul, small animal extension veterinarian at
the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine at Urbane,
"Brucellosis can infect cattle, sheep, goats, dogs and humans as well as
pigs. However, cats seem to be somewhat resistant to the bacteria." The
major route of Brucellosis transmission in dogs is through direct contact of
an infected, aborted  fetus, or uterine discharge. They may also become
infected by eating contaminated meat, fetal membranes, aborted fetuses, or
drinking contaminated, unpasteurized milk. The bacteria can also shed in dog
feces and be cultured from lymph nodes of an infected animal, and possibly
through airborne transmission in some cases. The bacteria enters the body
through mucous membranes and spreads from there to lymph nodes and the
spleen . It also spreads to the uterus, placenta and prostate gland as well
as other internal organs at times. Signs of infection in dogs may include
abortion, infertility, infected reproductive organs, arthritis, disc
disease, fever, hind limb weakness, lethargy, and/or general lymph node
swelling. Since these may be signs of many diseases, take your pet to your
veterinarian if it shows any of them. He or she will need to draw a blood
sample to determine if the problem is Brucellosis. In females dogs,
infection leads to abortion or early death in infected puppies. Infected
females may have no other clinical signs. In some cases, there may be
deceased fertility rather than abortion. This may be due to reabsorption of
fetuses early in their development. In male dogs, infection of the testicles
can lead to infertility due to anti-sperm antibodies developed as the body
attempts to fight off the bacterial infection. The tests may atrophy after
the initial period of swelling. Scrotal enlargement or infection of the skin
over the scrotum may be seen. In both male and female dogs, there may be
infection of the spinal disks (diskospondylitis) which can cause back pain
and rear leg weakness or even paralysis. Eye inflammation may be seen in
either sex. There is a kit available to veterinarians for testing in their
office. It is usually best to retest any dogs found positive on this test,
with other testing methods since there is a fairly high rate of false
positives using the in- house test kit. Brucellosis is very difficult to
treat successfully. A combination of minocycline and streptomycin is thought
to be most effective but is expensive. Tetracycline can be substituted for
the minocycline to reduce cost but also lowers the effectiveness of
treatment. All infected animals should be considered to be life long
carriers of the disease, even if treated. Since this is sexually
transmitted, it is important for breeders to make sure all of the dogs in
their kennel test negative for the bacteria. If they are not, they should
not be bred.  They may show no clinical signs but still transmit the
bacteria in semen or vaginal fluid. Female dogs should be tested a few weeks
before they come into heat and males should be tested twice a year. Any new
animal brought into the kennel should be isolated until it tests negative
twice. The second test should be done a month after the first one. If
infection is suspected at any time, quaternary ammonia, Betadine Rx, and
bleach can kill Brucella organisms in the kennel to limit spread of the
disease. It is  possible that Brucellosis caused by Brucella canis may be a
zoonotic disease, meaning that people could potentially be infected by this
organism.  People often develop a persistent infection characterized by
intermittent flu-like disease termed "undulant fever". It is something to
think about when handling infected dogs. Wear gloves around any body fluids
and be careful about contaminating yourself in any way. HAVE ALL DOGS, MALE
AND FEMALE, tested for Brucellosis, in order to protect your dogs as well as
yourself.