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Hello, everyone. My name
is Dr. Sarah Fouch.
And welcome to this
short recording,
where we will be considering
Brucella species.
We will discuss the
clinical condition
that this organism
is associated with
and the virulence factors
that make it a
successful pathogen.
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Brucella species are small
gram-negative bacilli.
They are aerobic organisms,
which means they cannot
survive without oxygen.
There are 12 species
of Brucella that can
cause infections in a range
of animals such as primates,
foxes, pigs, rodents, sheep,
goats, dogs and cattle.
Many of the issues
associated with this type of
infection are serious
and include abortion,
impaired fertility
or infertility.
There are four main
species of Brucella
that are associated with human
infections, and these are:
Brucella abortus, which
originates from cattle.
Brucella melitensis originating
from sheep or goats.
Brucella suis
originating from pigs
or Brucella canis
originating from dogs.
When we think about
the areas of the world
where we see the most
Brucella infections,
this is associated with
the Middle East, Asia,
Africa, South and
Central America
and also some
Mediterranean countries.
As all of the Brucella species
originate from animal sources,
it's no surprise that these
are zoonotic infections.
And infections are
reported worldwide
when you think about some of
those areas that
I've just discussed.
We don't tend to see many
Brucella infections in the UK,
but we do get them occasionally.
Human infection is
normally a result of
consumption of contaminated
dairy products
and insufficient animal
health protection.
And this will result
in the contamination
of food products
reaching the consumer.
