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| Brucellosis |
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| Health & Fitness |
| Written by malika sharma |
| Tuesday, 17 March 2009 21:53 |
| -- Brucellosis-- Brucellosis also known as Mediterranean fever or Bang's disease was first noticed by the British in 1850s. It is an infectious disease .Brucellosis can have an effect on any part of the body, including your reproductive system, heart, liver and also central nervous system. This disease is also considered as a potential biological weapon but was halted in 1967. Later all biological weapons were banned in 1969. This disease is caused by the bacteria Brucella. Brucellosis is mainly found among animals like sheep, goats, elk, pigs and dogs. The bacteria Brucella is divided into 6 different species depending on the source animal or infection features. Some of the different species of Brucella are Brucella Suis (from pigs), Brucella Abortus (from cattle), Brucella Melitensis (from sheep) and Brucella Canis (from dogs). Cattle once exposed to the bacteria, the likelihood of it being infected depends on its age, pregnancy status and many other intrinsic factors of the animal that was exposed. The most common symptom among animals that are exposed to the bacteria is high incidents of abortion. In U.S cattle's are tested at least once in a year for disease. The cattle that are confirmed with the disease are killed. Also in US all cattle are vaccinated as young stock thereby reducing the chance of transmission of the disease. This disease is also found in humans. Humans get this disease when they come in contact with infected animals or when they use products of the infected animals. This disease can also be caused by the inhalation of aerosols. The disease duration may vary from a few weeks to a whole year. Humans when infected with this disease show symptoms like fever, headache, physical weakness and back aches. This disease can also cause long-lasting problems like joint pain, fatigue and recurrent fevers. In humans direct person to person infection is rare except in some special cases. It can spread from a mother to her breast feeding child. It can also transmit through sexual intercourse. This disease is not so common in US. The disease is found more in area where the diseases related to cattle are not controlled much. It is found more in area like Southern France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, North Africa, Asia Africa and Eastern Europe. Treatment for brucellosis exists but it can be difficult. It can be cured by using combinations of effective antibiotics like doxycycline and rifampin and daily intramuscular injections of streptomycin. This can be used to prevent infection. The recovery from the disease may take from few weeks to months depending on the severity of illness. A triple therapy of rifampin and cotrimoxazole with doxycycline can also successfully cure this disease. The blood brain barrier can be crossed by the doxycycline but to prevent relapse the other two drugs are also required. The main way to prevent this disease is using very hygiene methods in producing milk products. Pasteurization of all the milk and its derivates like cheese is also a very good method to prevent this disease. |
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