Have you ever heard of bovine brucellosis or infectious abortion? This pathology is one of the most common diseases of cattle, that is, cows. It is a serious pathology because it is a zoonosis, being one of the animal diseases that can be transmitted to humans, as we will see below.
Brucellosis is a disease of bacterial origin that produces alterations related to reproduction, such as abortions or infertility. For all these reasons, it is of vital importance to know the measures that are being taken and that have been taken in order to eradicate it, so read on to discover the symptoms of bovine brucellosis on our site.and its treatment.
What is bovine brucellosis?
Bovine brucellosis is a bacterial disease, caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus. The name of this bacterium already indicates that one of its main repercussions is that affected females suffer abortions, with the main affected being females of childbearing age.
The disease is very harmful, because in addition, as we will detail in the corresponding section, it can affect humans, having serious consequences. Brucellosis as a pathology not only affects humans and cows, as dogs, sheep, goats, horses and even some marine mammals also suffer from it. Although bovine is a specific strain of bacteria, it does affect more animals than cattle.
Is bovine brucellosis contagious to humans?
One of the biggest problems caused by this disease, being the most worrying and on which most efforts are focused to end it, is the risk of contagion to humans who come into contact with infected animals. That is why brucellosis is a zoonotic disease, which are those that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
In humans, the risk of contagion is very high, since it is a very infectious disease, it generates what is called Undulant fever or M alta feverSymptoms include headache, irregular fever, chills, weight loss, profuse sweating, and general pain. It is also dangerous because it often causes infections in vital organs such as the liver or spleen.
Causes and routes of transmission of bovine brucellosis
Bovine brucellosis is one of the zoonotic diseases with the greatest infectious potential, being highly contagious both among cattle and from cattle to other animals. The main route of infection is by body fluids such as milk or water contaminated by feces.
There are two routes of transmission of bovine brucellosis:
- Vertical transmission: occurs when the bacterium is transmitted to offspring by via transplacental, or while breastfeeding. The consequences of contagion are different depending on the gestation period in which it occurs. It often happens that if diagnostic tests are performed in the first third of pregnancy, false negatives usually occur in the detection tests, since the fetus' immune system identifies the bacteria as its own.
- Horizontal transmission: occurs between sick animals and he althy animalsThe routes of infection are many and varied, including the air, body secretions, remains of the placenta in the environment, contaminated water or food, or through the skin.
Bovine brucellosis symptoms
The most frequent symptoms in cows are those related to the reproductive system, the most striking and easily detectable is abortion, especially between the fifth and seventh month of gestation. Other effects are:
- Retained placenta
- Birth of weak or dead calves
- Vaginal discharges
- Infertility or reproductive difficulties
- Less milk production
- Joint injuries
- Orchiditis in the case of affected males
On many occasions, what happens is that at first glance the children of affected mothers who manage to be born seem he althy. In these cases, what happens is that detection is difficult, and it is completely necessary to perform serological tests or cultures in order to be sure that the calf is he althy or, on the other hand, has contracted bovine brucellosis. As long as a cow is a carrier, it will excrete pathogens through milk, as well as through its feces and urine, which pass into the soil and water, which become a means of contagion for both animals and people.
Diagnosis and treatment for bovine brucellosis
In order to make an early diagnosis of bovine brucellosis, the presence of reproductive disorders such as abortions or retained placenta is usually taken into account as the first indication. But serological tests must be carried out in order to corroborate the presence of the infection. If confirmed, euthanasia is usually resorted to in these cases, due to the lack of effective treatment and the risk of transmission to humans.
In this way, today there is no treatment for brucellosis in cows, so all those who get sick they are sacrificed. This is explained by the use of cows as a food source, counting both milk and meat, which makes it very dangerous for people to consume meat or milk from infected cows. It is for this reason, because brucellosis is a zoonosis, that, as there is no treatment or medication that fully ensures the disappearance of the pathogen, it is advocated to euthanize the animal. In order to avoid this unfortunate situation, it is essential to carry out preventive measures, promote the consumption of organic meat that also helps control this sector and, of course, bet on finding an effective treatment that prevents the slaughter of these animals.
Treatment in humans consists of the administration of combined antibiotic drugs, with the duration of treatment being between 3 and 6 weeks. Although there is usually full recovery, 10-15% of patients present more or less severe relapses.
Prevention of bovine brucellosis
Due to the complications of this disease, it is necessary to take preventive measures, one of the most important is Keep the cattle under controlTo do this, a minimum of one annual check-up must be carried out on all head of cattle in each herd. This check-up includes performing serological tests, as well as an exhaustive analysis of the milk, such as the milk ring test. When brucellosis is detected in an animal, it must be isolated to prevent it from spreading to others.
When herds are in areas where there are outbreaks of brucellosis or where brucellosis is endemic, it is recommended to vaccinate the animals. There are different vaccines, all of them made with modified live viruses, they are quite effective and the government agencies of each region usually make recommendations to know which vaccine is the most recommended in each case and geographical area.
