Swine brucellosis is a zoonosis affecting pigs, caused by the bacteria Brucella suis. The disease typically causes chronic inflammatory lesions in the reproductive organs of susceptible animals or orchitis and may even affect joints and other organs. The most common symptom is abortion in pregnant susceptible hosts at any stage of gestation. Other manifestations are temporary or permanent sterility, lameness, posterior paralysis, spondylitis, and abscess formation. It is transmitted mainly by ingestion of infected tissues or fluids, semen during breeding, and suckling infected animals. In humans, it can cause undulant fever.
Since brucellosis threatens food supply and cause undulant fever, Brucella suis and other Brucella species (B. melitensis, B. abortis, B. ovis, B. canis) are recognized as potential agricultural, civilian, and military bioterrorism agents.
Read more about Swine Brucellosis: Etiology, Pathogenesis, Symptoms, Treatment, Biological Warfare, See Also
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“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)