The Latest Facts About Brucellosis
February, 1997
Is brucellosis infection curable? The answer is not a simple
yes or no! The conclusion of recent veterinary research is that
treatment is so unpredictable that therapy should not be
performed in breeding kennels.
Some people have become convinced that they have cured their dogs
of brucellosis. Some veterinarians are saying brucellosis is
curable. People are putting these treated dogs back into field
trials and back into their breeding programs. Field trial
committees cannot legally refuse an entry of a dog that tests
negative for brucellosis, although it is possible that the dog
still has brucellosis (B.).
The experience most of us have is that our Veterinarians have
given us only two alternatives for a dog with brucellosis. These
are euthanasia (having the animal destroyed) and spaying or
neutering followed by a course of one month of antibiotic
therapy. Spaying or neutering may be accepted, but not
necessarily recommended, for pets or dogs that are kept isolated.
This is still the recommendation of current researchers.
If B. is curable, then how sad it is for those who have chosen to
have their infected animals destroyed. If it is not curable, then
many people are spending a lot of time and money with false hopes
and they are risking infecting other animals. Attempting to treat
animals for B. may be, only passing on the problem to show up
later. Because it may be possible to cure some animals, it is
tempting to ignore all the other facts concerning B. and attempt
to treat a dog with antibiotics.
Some of us may be willing to accept the risk that a dog can be
cured, but is it right to expose other peoples dogs to risks
those owners would not knowingly accept? Some people want all
dogs who have previously tested positive for Brucellosis to be
excluded from field trials. Responsible people would not allow
their dog to be bred to any dog that has previously tested
positive for Brucellosis infection, regardless, if it now tested
negative.
What we all need to know from the field of veterinary science is
the latest and best answer to this question. Is Brucellosis
curable? If an animal has been treated for Brucellosis infection
is it a risk for infecting other animals? When a dog shows
positive for B. it is up to the individual to make the
responsible decisions of how to eliminate the disease.
The purpose of presenting the following information is to give
the latest and most complete information to guide you in your
efforts to eliminate this disease.
Presented here in this article is a summary of a research paper
prepared by Doctors. Cheri A. Johnson and Robert D. Walker. They
are researchers in the field of veterinary medicine at Michigan
State University. Dr. Johnson is an expert on reproductive
diseases. They published this research paper detailing the
results of their studies of Brucellosis in a periodical for
continuing education called “The Compendium”. The
editors of this publication have given permission to use the
information in this article. This paper is used for continuing
education credit at the University of Pennsylvania school of
veterinary Medicine. Dr. J. Durocher our local Veterinarian in
Thibodaux, La. referred to Dr. John Hoskins as the authority on
infectious diseases at Louisiana State University. Dr. Hoskins
teaches infectious diseases at LSU and is head of the Louisiana
Diagnostic Laboratory. He stated that Dr. Johnson is an authority
in the research of canine reproduction and that her findings
should be considered the best knowledge on the subject. All this
having been said to verify that the summary of the findings
presented here are from the latest and most authoritative
information available concerning Brucellosis.
Dr. Hoskins stated that it is not known how effective antibiotic
treatment is in the long term. Dogs can return to the high risk
contagious stage of the disease. He might treat pets for the
disease but recommends against treating for the purpose of
continuing to breed a dog.
I would like to thank Dr. Durocher for his help with this
article. Dr. Durocher was helpful in breaking down the technical
terms so that they could be understood by us dog owners and he
also proof read the article for accuracy. I also sent a copy of
the article to Dr. Leland Carmichael of Cornell University. Dr.
Carmichael’s research has been extensively referenced in
articles about Brucellosis. He agreed with the content of the
article and suggested some changes, which I have included.
KEY FACTS:
The Brucellosis organism is a small, nomotile, gram negative
bacterium that causes sudden abortion in otherwise healthy
bitches and infertility in otherwise healthy dogs. Diagnosis is
confirmed by isolation and identification of the organism. The
rapid slide agglutination test is good to screen for Brucellosis,
but all positive tests must be confirmed by other methods such as
cultures since about 50% of all positive slide tests are “false
positive”. Because antibiotic therapy frequently fails,
canine Brucellosis is generally considered to be incurable.
Control of Brucellosis in a kennel with the disease involves
testing every member on a monthly basis until all the infected
animals are identified and eliminated.
TRANSMISSION:
Canine Brucellosis (B.) primarily effects dogs. Although humans
are resistant to the disease, there have been more than 35 cases
of human infection reported. Most of these have been from
handling infected dogs. Brucellosis is found in farm animals but
it is not the same type as the canine brucella. The most common
method of contracting the disease is by mouth or inhaling the
organisms from infected aborted material or the discharge of the
infected female after aborting. Semen from a dog who has been
infected for 3 to 11 weeks may also be a cause of infection. B.
usually cannot be found in semen after a year. Smaller amounts of
B. can be found in urine and salivary, nasal and non-reproductive
vaginal secretions and in milk. Although, the presence of B. in
these body fluids is considered of minor importance as a source
of infection, researchers found that dogs living together with an
infected dog will likely contract the disease within 4 to 6
months. This was true when abortive material and venereal
transmission was not involved. Juvenile dogs take 10 to 12 months
to contract the disease. Infection occurs through the
mucous-membranes or abrasions in the skin. The oral route is
considered to be the most common. Non-pregnant females will show
no signs of the disease.